When The Pawn Turns King: A Gen 5 Adventure
by Premasaur
Summary: After being blackmailed by the normally silent Champion of Unova, Luca is forced to exit retirement and become the one thing he never wanted to be again: A Pokemon Trainer. As he travels through Unova, he has vivid flashbacks of a past he swore to forget and of people he wished he'd never met. Can he get all the badges he needs in time, or will his dark secrets consume him again?
1. Prologue: White's Turn

How long has it been since I last sat here? Watching over you as you sat across from me, pondering things I couldn't even begin to imagine.

Have you counted the minutes since then? Have you counted the seconds? I have not. My clock ran out of time before we even began.

After all this time, I see not a single speck of dust. The pigment is just as worn as the day I left.

I'm impressed.

Though, I would expect no less from you. You have always been better than me at everything.

"You think so?" you ask? Oh, my friend, I know so. I dare say I knew from the moment we first met. We were worlds apart to begin with.

Yes...apart.

That is what we are now, is it not?

Apart.

I wish you were here. I wish you sat opposite from me, looking at me with those cautious eyes and that deceptive smile, as you did in the past.

I have yearned for your presence again, but you seem to not wish for mine.

And yet, look at what lies before us, still in the same condition it was when we began?

Look at what has happened since we lost each other.

Our game has not ended.

Our game has not been abandoned.

Though I have not been here for a long time, my memory is still just as clear as when I left.

You've made a move.

A very interesting move.

A move that has certainly surprised me.

I know what it is that led you to that move, but I know not why you have made it.

What do you hope to gain? Do you believe it worth the risk?

I cannot judge that.

But your move signifies something.

After all this time...

...you wish to continue.

And I am not the type of person to turn down an invitation such as that.

I accept.

I know you cannot hear me, nor can you see me, but I shall let you know that I accept.

We may continue our game.

It will be my turn.

I will make my move, and you shall see it when next you arrive.

Then you will know for certain that this game still continues.

Just remember, my friend.

This is not your game.

It is mine.

I will think about my move carefully.

And once I go...

You're on the clock.

Nothing happens to me when I run out of time.

But you?

That's a whole other story.

––––––––––

**Welcome to my story. I'd like to take this opportunity to lay out some groundwork for the future. Author notes will not be present in most chapters.**

**\- This is not a Nuzlocke. Despite this, there will still be instances of minor graphic pain and violence.  
\- There will be some mature topics discussed in this story, but I strongly believe they do not warrant anything higher than a "T" rating.  
****\- Typical cussing and vulgar language is not uncommon. If words such as "s**t" and "f**k" make you uncomfortable when uncensored, then I advise not reading this story. Exceptionally and racial slurs are not present.  
****\- This story will encompass both the original Black and White, as well as Black 2 and White 2. How? Stay tuned and read to find out.  
****\- This story is a part of a collection of other stories from other authors. Titles involved include Plegian Gengar's _The Rose That Was Always Red_, Maycontestdrew's _The Iron Knight_, Vexan's _A Dream or Reality_, and Fuzzyboy's _The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates_. Please consider reading them alongside this story.  
****\- I am not a fast writer. The publishing schedule of chapters will be inconsistent. I expect to post one or two chapters per month. If things go well, I will do more. Please bear with me.**

**\- With all that in mind, I thank you for reading, and hope you enjoy _When The Pawn Turns King_.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Door Opens

Autumn. Year unknown. Tucked away in the corner of the Unova region that he called home, a young man raised a metal hoe just high enough for its soiled edge to glisten in the light before it found itself in the loose soil it had known its whole life.

The sun above him scorched the evening sky with a warm and vibrant orange, matching the leaves starting to fall from the trees. Not a single cloud dared hide the majesty of the sun's light. The shadow of the slowly world grew taller and taller over the land of the region as the sun continued to fade further back into the sky. The slight chill hanging in the air was getting stronger by the minute, evidenced by the growing howls of the winds as they glided across the earth's surface.

None of this mattered to the man, whose movement with the hoe was an almost robotic pattern.

Lift. Check. Lower.

Tall and lean, the man repeated this process several times while dressed in nothing but a dirt-stained t-shirt and shorts. Every time he struck the ground, he left a small indent in the soil barely the size of a finger. Based on the surrounding terrain, it was evident that he had been doing this job for a long time. There were several rows of these indents, neatly spaced out and separated by even taller mounds of dirt. No matter where one looked, the quality of work never faltered.

And even as someone came out to join him on the vast field where he did his work, the man continued to move without stopping.

"Hey. Good work, man. Call it here," the watcher said, crossing his arms as he watched the man work.

No response. Just a rep of lift, check, lower.

That got the watcher a bit angry. "Luca! Hey! Luca! Yer done!"

"Eh?"

The working man had already half raised the hoe to strike again, but lowered it much more gently this time as he turned around to look at his visitor.

"Call it quits, Luca," the watcher said, nodding his head. "You done plowed enough."

"Are you sure?" Luca asked, looking out at the rest of the field he hadn't gotten to. "I've got enough in me for one more row."

"Do ya now?" Luca's watcher took an aggressive step forwards. "Then maybe you should use that 'one more row' o' yer's t' walk on home before it gets all cold an' dark!"

"But—"

The watcher stepped back, crossed his arms, and huffed. "I ain't hearin' it. None of us are. Yer done fer the day, Luca."

Luca sighed. "Fine, Donnel. You win."

"Bring the hoe on back to the house. We'll catch ya next week," Donnel said, his agitated attitude having vanished entirely.

"You're sure you don't want me to get that one extra row done?" Luca asked, pointing the hoe towards where he wished to get his work done.

"After all you've already done fer us just these past two days? Naw man. Ivaldi and I can handle that."

"I get more done in a weekend than you two get done in a week. Surely you must know that," Luca chuckled.

"An' thas why you only work with us on weekends. If you workin' here e'ry day of the week, there wouldn't be any work fer us left!" Donnel laughed back. "Yer like a one man army, brutally o'erpowered an' not waitin' t' take orders from nobody. I don't care that ya disagree, man. I think you humans got it better."

Luca rolled his eyes, though Donnel could see his smile. "Oh boy. Here we go again."

"We don't need ta have this discussion fer the thirtieth time," Donnel said, his voice instantly overpowering Luca's. "You got yer thoughts. I got mine."

"So can I discuss my thoughts regarding the work I've left to do?"

"Dammit Luca!" Though Donnel was a small creature only about a third of Luca's height, he felt no fear as he leapt up and smacked the man's arm with his leaf-shaped tail. His body was serpentine and slender, with a green body and a cream underside. Despite his snakelike appearance, Donnel noticeably had hands and feet, even if the length of both weren't particularly impressive.

And when the two brown-eyed creatures exchanged a brief stare, Donnel the Snivy made sure to say his next statement directly to Luca's face.

"You may be the more efficient worker 'round here. But I'm yer boss! So you can tell me all yer thoughts regardin' the field that still needs plowin', but I'm the one who says whether or not you can get the work done! And I say no! Yer goin' home."

"So much for not having the same discussion for the thirtieth time," Luca smirked.

"What's that supposed t' mean!?"

"Nothing, nothing," Luca said. "You win. I'll go, okay?"

"Humph." Donnel crossed his arms, before pointing towards the farmhouse in the distance. "I ain't repeatin' myself."

"House. Hoe. Away," Luca said, already beginning his walk towards where Donnel was pointing. "I'll be sure to check in with Roy and Lucy too."

"I can do that fer ya. They'll figure it out," Donnel said, walking beside Luca.

"I'm stopping by the house anyway. I might as well. Unless—"

Donnel grinned and gave Luca a weak punch to the shin. "Nuh-uh. No 'unless.' I'm not fallin' fer yer little trick with this y'know. Where ya get me t' bring in the hoe for ya as you run off t' git back home. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ya won't get me a third time."

"Then how about I just give you the hoe without the sweet talk?" Luca asked, lightly dropping the tool onto Donnel. As the Snivy tried to awkwardly and simultaneously protect his head from harm while catching the hoe, Luca suddenly broke out into a run in another direction, headed off the fields and away from both Donnel and the house. "That way you still take it in and I still start my way home!" he shouted as he ran.

"Son of a—"

"I'll see you next week, Donnel!" Luca shouted, waving behind him. He was already too far away for Donnel to give any meaningful pursuit, leaving the Snivy to finish his cuss under his breath.

"Git home safe!" Donnel shouted after Luca, though he had no idea whether or not his message had been heard. "And don't tire yerself out before gettin' home again…"

––––––––––

Luca was starting to regret leaving work in a run.

It was normal for Luca to walk all the way home after work. To him it was a daily tradition, and something that he always looked forward to at the start and end of a long day's work. It didn't cost anything, kept him in good shape throughout the working week, gave him time to think, and it just felt soothing overall.

On days like these, where Luca was coming back from fieldwork, Luca was especially drawn away from taking any form of transportation other than his own two feet. Getting into a car or a bus with his dirt-soiled and sweat-drenched clothes seemed like a nightmare, both for Luca and for whoever else was in the vehicle. Sure, the walk was well over an hour long both ways, but it was a flat route that never failed to get him to work and back. A longer walk for Luca meant more time to himself, and more time to reflect on recent events.

However all Luca could really reflect on right now was his mistake of leaving work in the condition he was in. It wasn't long after he had dashed off the fields and started his long journey home that he began to feel cramping in his stomach and aches in his legs; their effects combined nearly brought Luca to a complete stop after about 5 minutes of trying to power through.

This wasn't new. It had happened a few times before, albeit rarely. Most of the time, Luca would start cramping up around a bus stop at the halfway point between his house and where he worked, so he'd be able to catch a much needed rest there.

But right now, Luca wasn't even halfway to the bus stop and he was starting to keel over from the pain. His walking had slowed dramatically, and his movements were becoming more forced. The cold weather and darkening sky didn't exactly make his situation much better.

Somehow, despite his current situation, Luca managed to force out a small laugh. "I guess I didn't have that one row left in me after all," he muttered under his breath.

His laugh turned into a sigh. Deciding to screw it all, Luca stopped walking entirely, choosing instead to slowly lower himself to the ground and take a seat on the edge of the sidewalk. At the rate he was going, Luca was sure he'd eventually just fall over and be forced to lie down well before he could reach the comfortable seat of the bus stop, and that was the second to last thing he wanted.

The last thing he wanted was for someone he knew to find him sitting there, cramped up and without energy, on the edge of the sidewalk. But that wasn't going to happen. Nobody he knew took the road he was currently on.

He didn't care if strangers saw him. Almost nobody ever used the sidewalk he was on anyway. Sure, there were several cars passing by going in both directions, but odds were that people simply didn't care about some random adult sitting down off the sidewalk with an almost childish smile on his face.

Luca made himself comfortable, gave off another sigh, and began to wait till he was feeling more able to walk. He wanted to at the very least make it to the bus stop before needing another rest, as he knew it wouldn't be a straight shot home in the condition he was in. Luca considered phoning his home to inform everyone that he'd be running late, but he also knew in the back of his mind that his father would instantly start up the car and go to pick Luca up if he knew he'd be late enough to miss dinner.

With nothing better to do other than sit and wait in total silence till he felt good enough to walk the next quarter of the way home, Luca began to count the cars passing by, taking mental notes of their colors. It was mind numbing, but all he could think to do. Red. Green. Blue. Yellow. Yellow again. Gray. Light blue. Red again. Green again. Blue again. Pink. Pink? That wasn't a color you saw every day on cars… Gray, yellow, gray—

_**BEEEEEEEEEEP!**_

Luca instinctively covered his ears and lowered his head towards the ground, caught off guard by the loud sound of a car's horn. When the sound stopped and Luca looked up, he saw a car had stopped beside him on the street. It didn't seem to be going anywhere. Odds are this was the car that scared Luca half to death.

His first thought was to the car's color, as that was on his mind prior to being rudely interrupted. It looked white, but it was a bit harder to tell due to the darkening of the sky as the sun slowly continued to retreat past the horizon.

Maybe some of those grays had been whites and Luca never thought of it.

_**BEEP!**_

The car's horn went off again, and now Luca could tell that the horn was directed at him.

Great.

Cautiously, he stood up and tried to peer into the front window, though it was, again, difficult to see into the car with the dark sky around them all. He could see the outline of a person, and movement from within the car, but the features were difficult to make out…

...until the driver lowered the window and flashed a smile at Luca.

"You know my mom said to never give a hitchhiker a ride in the car. Or anyone for that matter. But I think even she'll agree with this exception that I'm about to make," the man behind the wheel said, giving Luca a friendly stare.

Luca gasped. "Are you—?" He stopped himself. Bad question. He knew the answer.

Yet somehow he still doubted it a bit. "I… How is it that I'm both relieved and frustrated to see you here? Is that normal?"

"Well if I were the one chilling on the side of the road, tired as hell after a day of work, and you were the one to suddenly pull up in a car next to me, I think I'd feel pretty embarrassed myself. The last thing I'd want is for someone I know to show up and find me there," the man said, nodding his head. "But I'd also be scared as hell because you have the worst vehicle driving skill I've ever seen. I wouldn't even trust you with an RC car."

Luca sighed. "Of all the people to find me here tonight, it just had to be you, didn't it?"

"Goodness, am I confusing you for someone else? Surely someone with a self-proclaimed silver tongue wouldn't greet a friend like that in his hour of need." After a short laugh, the man reached over the passenger seat and opened the door, patting the chair a couple of times. "Hop in, Luca. Let's get you home."

"Do I get a choice?" Luca asked.

"Well it's either hop in the car now and we get you home in like ten to fifteen minutes, or you walk home for the next forty-five minutes and show up late to dinner. And we both know how your dad is about that."

"You make a compelling argument," Luca chuckled, already half into the car. "And you don't care that I'm all sweaty and dirty from work?"

"Buddy, have you seen the back seats of my car?"

When Luca turned around to see what the driver was talking about, he discovered that he couldn't even make out where the seats were amongst the pile of...things. He couldn't tell if it was all trash or if the car was being used for storage. The longer he looked at it, the more confusing it got.

"Oh."

"A little extra dirt in the front isn't really a big deal," the man said, giving Luca a small nudge. "Now you know why I never agree to drive you places. And why I hate driving this thing."

"And what makes you drive it now?" Luca asked.

"Mom wanted me to run an errand in Virbank. And unlike you, I'm only crazy enough to walk to Floccesy from Aspertia. Anything past that is bus or car." As Luca closed the passenger side door, the driver leaned his head in towards Luca. "Y'know, my offer to teach you to ride a bike still stands. It'd cut your travel time down by like, way over half. And you still get good exercise on the way to work."

"What if I say no to that?"

"Then you're nineteen and still don't know how to ride a bike."

Luca playfully shoved the head away from him. "Just shut up and drive, Justin," he laughed.

"Can do, Luca. Can do."

––––––––––

"You're sure you don't want me to just drop you off in front?"

"Well I need to look like I've walked _some_ distance, yeah? Or else my dad—"

"Or else what, your dad's gonna give me a call to thank me? Or he's gonna tell me to pick you up from work from now on, only for me to say no, and him to respect that choice?"

"I'm getting out of the car now."

Justin's small grin exploded into full out laughter as Luca opened the door to exit the car. "You realize that means I win, right?"

"Who won what?" Luca asked back, already back onto the pavement. "I didn't encounter anyone on my way back home today other than the normal strangers that pass on by."

"Bastard," Justin said, still laughing a bit. "Tell your family I said hi."

"That I can do."

Justin gave Luca a small wave as he closed the car door. "Catch you around."

Luca waved back. "See ya. And thanks."

"Don't mention it. No seriously, you seem very set on not doing so."

"I'm walking home now Justin!" Luca said, turning around and throwing his arms into the air.

From within the car, Justin silently smiled and began preparing to head back home. "I totally won that exchange," he muttered before driving away.

Luca did exactly as he said he would, walking straight home from where Justin had dropped him off. He'd asked to be released a few blocks away from his house, so that it would still somewhat appear he had walked all the way home. Justin gave a few compelling arguments as to what Luca's father would have done if he found out about the drive, and while Luca believed both claims to be correct, he'd forgotten the biggest one, and the one Luca didn't want to have happened the most.

"Now the last thing I need is Justin being invited over for dinner tonight. Let's hope I don't will that into existence, too."

It was only a few minutes of walking till Luca spotted the familiar sights of home. The neighborhood around him was filled with gorgeous looking homes, each with carefully crafted unique architecture that made every single house stand out amongst all the others. Every exterior was spotlessly clean, every lawn was well kept, and every driveway had a nice looking car in it. This was the rich side of town. All it took was one glance to know.

And here Luca was, walking around the streets he called home in a t-shirt and shorts stained with several layers of dirt and grime. To him, it was very awkward. But by now, everyone around the neighborhood knew where Luca worked and what he did. He was far more likely to receive friendly waves from neighbors over confused expressions, and he knew it, so that saved him some embarrassment. Though, hardly anyone was out this late in the day in this part of the city. There would be no sudden greetings from friends and acquaintances tonight.

Finally, Luca's destination was in sight. Tucked away in the very corner of the neighborhood was a house that both fit in and stood out amongst its peers. Its elegant coat of white paint gave it a smooth looking exterior, expertly masking the rough stones cemented together that formed the house's outside structure. The windows were all decorated with either elegant curtains that complimented the white exterior, carefully framed family photos, or a combination of both. The front lawn had several hedges trimmed into the shapes of various Pokemon. Compared to almost every other house in the neighborhood, the house was much shorter than the rest, barely having enough height on one half of the structure to call it a second floor from an outside glance.

But that had never bothered Luca. It was still a place that he was happy to call his lifelong home.

Without any further hesitation, Luca's simple walk turned into a light jog as he went up to the front door. By now he knew the 6-digit code by heart. Though he was sure he could enter it without looking, he was grateful for the little sunlight he had left, ensuring that he hit the right combination. Center, bottom left, bottom, center, bottom left, top left.

The lock turned on its own, and the door opened with a gentle turn and push from Luca.

"Hey. I'm here," Luca called as he stepped inside.

The response was instant. He heard muttering from further in the house, before a voice called out to him. "Luca! Get over here! You've got to see this!"

The voice was his father's. He'd recognize it anywhere. Judging from where the voice was coming from, as well as the smell of a fresh dinner in the nearby kitchen, Luca figured that despite his best efforts, he had arrived late to dinner.

Luca walked forwards again, this time intent on reaching the dining room table as quickly as possible. He hadn't even changed or taken off his shoes. Any time spent doing that would be time he wasn't spending eating dinner with the rest of the family, and under his roof, that was perhaps the biggest crime of all.

But much to his surprise, when he passed by the living room on the way to the dining table, he caught his father sitting on the sofa watching TV, most definitely not eating. He was a simple looking man with a simple looking build, not too chubby or thin, not too muscular or bony. Even the way he dressed was very standard with a simple black turtleneck and a pair of jeans.

His light blue eyes matched those of the person sitting next to him: Luca's twin brother. The two were born identical, and had kept their distinctly similar appearance all throughout their lives. Though they weren't carbon copies of each other.

"Dad I don't think he'd be interested in this," he said, nudging his father a little. Compared to Luca, his brother was slightly skinner and less well built, but was also a little taller with longer hair. It was difficult to tell the two brothers apart at a glance or distance, but when the two were close together, it was easy to see who was who.

That was, of course, when they weren't dressed in radically different clothing, which was something they almost always did.

Their father waved him off. "Nonsense, Spectral. This is your brother we're talking about!"

"Yeah," Spectral said. "That's exactly why he wouldn't be interested."

"I mean, I can give it a shot," Luca said, shrugging as he moved further into the living room. Evidently they were looking at the TV, and he couldn't get a good look of that from the doorway.

"Sorry, Elliot, but I kind of agree with Spectral here," said a third voice. On the opposite side of the couch from the two men was a single Pokemon. It was a small, green, frog-like creature with a large, closed up bulb resting on its back.

Spectral gleefully pointed towards the Bulbasaur. "See? Ephraim agrees."

"Hold on now. What makes you say that?"

"Uh... " Ephraim looked lost for a moment. "Well… From what we saw so far? This isn't really the kind of stuff that Luca wants to think of on a daily basis. One-hundred percent."

"So maybe he'll start thinking about it after watching it," Elliot said, with an excited smile on his face. "He already said he'd do it, didn't he?"

"But—"

Elliot raised up a hand. "No buts, Ephraim!"

"He's already rewinding it," Spectral drawled.

"Whether or not you care, this will be an important day in history, not just for the both of you, but for this region's history," Elliot said. Luca kept his attention off the TV so that he could go into whatever it was his father wished to present without any sort of spoilers.

"Huh? You really think this'll be a special day in Unova history?" Ephraim asked.

"And now comes the part where he pitches it," Spectral chuckled, receiving a light nudge from his father shortly after.

"Let's test your historical knowledge, Luca," Elliot said. "We'll ignore the fact that you almost flunked it in school, of course. Today, under normal circumstances, would have a national event associated with it. Do you know what it is?"

Spectral gasped from next to Elliot. "Oh _that's_ why they did this today!"

"He gets it," Elliot laughed.

Luca shook his head. "I'm clueless."

"Well, I'm not surprised you've forgotten this. It has been some time, after all. Ordinarily, today would be the day of the Champion's annual address to the region. But of course, they haven't done those recently."

"Well yeah, the Champion hasn't said a word in the past 5 years," Luca said, rolling his eyes. "Some Champion he is. Sealing off the Pokemon League and never showing his… Wait a minute." Luca turned to Elliot, now looking very interested. "Did...the Champion make a speech today?"

"Sort of!" Elliot said. "You'll see what I mean. If you would…"

With Elliot pointing to the TV, Luca shifted his attention to the screen at the front of the room.

There on the monitor was a woman, average height, blonde, and dressed in casual looking attire. She held a few pieces of paper in her hand as she read into a microphone. As the camera panned around the scene, Luca found that there were absolutely no spectators or audience members of any kind. Just a camera crew and the speaker on an outdoor, rocky terrain.

"Hello, people of Unova. My name is Jolene. Today, I will speak on behalf of the Champion for their annual address." Her voice was low, loud, and exceptionally clear. A normal person would think she'd rehearsed the speech in advance with how quickly and clearly she spoke during the rest of the presentation, but it was apparent to everyone in Luca's house that this too was her first time hearing what she was reading. She held up the papers clearly for the camera to see.

"What I have in my hands right now is a message handwritten by the Champion, which they gave to me and instructed me to read today, right now, for a public broadcast. Once I start to read these papers, every word out of my mouth from now on will be the Champion's own words, with nothing omitted or added. Unfortunately, the Champion themselves did not wish to present this to everyone. My apologies for this, but they were very firm in their decision. Let us begin."

The lady cleared her throat and began to read.

"_To the people of Unova, and to a greater extent, the world. Hello. This will be my first and last message as the Champion of Unova. After today, I will resume total silence. Listen to my words well. I will not have them repeated._

"_I won't waste time with excuses for my lack of presence, nor try to apologize when forgiveness is undue. The truth of the matter is simple: For the past five years, I have been so silent that I may as well have been dead. I have been uninvolved with this region's politics. I have never strived to make a public appearance. I haven't even given the world my name. I have contributed absolutely nothing beneficial to this region, or this planet, other than filling a role of power far greater than I should ever be trusted with. In doing this, I have failed as a Champion, and freely accept all criticisms that have been directed to me._

"_Today, I will change things. I've come to make an announcement. For five years, the Unova Pokemon League has remained silent, locked behind closed gates and sealed shut to all challengers. This impulse decision of mine was a grave mistake, and my biggest mistake of all as the champion. _

"_I will amend this now._

"_In three months from today, as the year draws to a close, I will give the ambitious trainers of Unova—and of the world—a chance. In three months time, I will host a tournament. A National Unova Championship. It will take place on Route 10, at the very base of Victory Road. The winner of this tournament will be given the honor and privilege of being the first person to challenge the Unova Elite Four in five years. Succeed against all four, and you may challenge me for the title of Champion of Unova. If you are tired of how I have lived my life and done my job during my time as Champion, then usurp me. Show me the strength of your ideals of a Champion._

"_To qualify for this tournament, you must meet one requirement and one requirement only: You must have, in your possession, all eight of Unova's Gym Badges. Basic, Bolt, Insect, Jet, Legend, Quake, Toxic, and Wave. I do not care if you are just starting out as a trainer, or have been one for several years. I do not care if you are a loyal citizen of Unova, or a foreigner that wishes to jump at the opportunity for a Champion title. Bring the badges, and I grant you entry. Prove your skill, and challenge me for my title. I welcome all challengers. _

"_I'll be waiting. _

"_Signed, K."_

Elliot immediately paused the video, excitedly towards his kids one after the other. "Well!?"

"It's about time," Spectral said, folding his arms. "The man's finally doing something."

"I'm glad that whoever's there in the Champion's seat is finally doing something with themselves. It's good to acknowledge one's mistakes," Elliot said. "But I'm more interested in what you think, Luca."

"I mean...it's cool?" Luca said. "I'm not sure how this pertains to me other than like...duh, I live in Unova."

"You were listening to the lady, weren't you?" Elliot asked, sounding a bit disappointed. "She said there would be a tournament!"

"Yeah I heard that part. Need the eight badges and all that."

His father leaned in a bit. "Aren't you interested?"

"No."

Elliot reared back a bit in shock. "What?"

Ephraim nodded. "Knew it."

"I told you," Spectral said, rising from the sofa and standing next to his father. "It doesn't appeal to him."

"Oh come on." Elliot stood up as well, walking over to Luca. "You're a Pokemon Trainer!"

"I _was_ a Pokemon Trainer," Luca said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "That was three years ago."

"You're not winning this, Elliot," Ephraim said, leaping off the sofa onto the table in front of it. "Trust me."

His father didn't quit. He started slowly approaching Luca. "Even if it was three years ago, you're still talented! We all watched you in the Johto League back then. You were incredible!"

"If I wanted to keep going, I would have done so."

Ephraim sighed. "I'm leaving before this gets worse." He hopped off the table and began walking down one of the hallways.

"I know you can get all eight of the badges in three months. This is your homeland! This opportunity was made for you!"

"No thanks."

"You're not going to get this chance again, you know that, right? This is a great way to get back into—"

"I'm not interested, Dad!"

Elliot took a step back. Luca wanted to say more, but the distraught look on his father's face made him pause and choose to take a deep breath before continuing.

"My days as a Pokemon Trainer are done. I'd rather keep the jobs that I have now than give them both up to pursue a single tournament I couldn't even win. I don't think it's worth it."

His father sighed. "After all that work we went through to get you your license…"

"Thank you for that. Again," Luca said, smiling a bit. "It meant a lot to me, and it still does. I'm still half impressed we managed to even get one… That's why I'm sorry to tell you that I won't be doing this." Luca turned around and faced his brother. "Spectral."

"Yo."

"Don't think I haven't noticed you poking more and more into my trainer life over the past few months. I've heard from my Pokemon that you've been talking to them more and more, too."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Spectral sneered.

"Maybe you're more interested in this than I am?"

"I'll admit that this seems to be more appealing to me than it is to you. My internship did get me a lot more interested in the whole Pokemon training biz'" Spectral said, entering a sarcastic thinking pose.

"Did it really?" Elliot asked. "I never knew this."

"Well duh, I never mentioned it. But, sorry, bro. If you're offering me your Pokemon to participate in this thing, then I'm gonna pass." Spectral grinned again. "You know me. I'm too proud to win with someone else's team."

"That's assuming you win," Luca said.

The twins laughed together, and Elliot couldn't help but smile at the sight. "All right you two," he said, moving in and patting them both on the shoulder. "How about we continue this discussion over dinner?"

"Keep Dad away from dinner? I would never," Spectral said, still a bit giggly. "Let's eat before it's too cold to bite into."

"Yeah." Luca nodded. "Let's."


	3. Chapter 2: To Possibilities Unknown

Elliot was always the first person awake in the morning, no matter what day it was or how late he'd gone to bed the night before. Luca or Spectral could wake up as early as the sun, get out of bed without making a peep of noise or speck of light, and rush down the hall faster than the noise of their footsteps throughout the house, and their father would still be in the kitchen with their breakfast already prepared. It was such a bizarre thing that neither child could explain in all their years, and something their father clearly had no intent on sharing the secret to.

The announcement of the Champion on the day prior would do nothing to change that. Luca woke up an hour earlier than he normally did on weekdays, and halfway through changing into his regular clothes he could hear the sound of a plate being placed on the countertop in the kitchen.

Breakfast was already prepared for him and Luca hadn't even been up for more than two minutes. Luca smiled from within his bedroom.

Thanks, Dad.

Once he was ready, Luca quietly left his room and walked down the hall to the kitchen. He was dressed in his regular wear, which he wore whenever he wasn't working on the fields. A simple pair of long, black synthetic pants, light brown boots, and a bright orange zipped up sweater. Friends and family alike had always called this style a fashion disaster, but Luca had always ignored their complaints and wore his unorthodox getup proudly.

Luca's father waited in the kitchen for his son with a smile on his face. "Good morning," Elliot said warmly.

"Morning, Dad," Luca yawned as he sat down in front of his plate. The plate was topped with several assorted fruits and berries, as well as a couple of slices of buttered toast. He didn't serve a drink with it, as he knew Luca always determined what he was in the mood to chase the food down with only as he was preparing to leave the house.

"You're up early," Elliot teased, turning around as he continued preparing his own breakfast. "Planning on going to work on-time for once?"

"Ha ha, Dad," Luca said. Despite the sarcasm, he still smiled a bit. "Boss sent me an email last night. He made it very clear that I had to be on-time today, along with a few other things."

"Oh really? What kind of other things?"

"He wants me to meet with him in his office before the day starts for one. And…" Luca reached down and pulled a Poke Ball out from his pocket, showing it to his father as he turned around. "He requested that I bring a Pokemon. One that wasn't Ephraim. He said he wanted someone that had lots of experience battling."

Elliot finished prepping his own meal and leaned on the counter behind him. "Do you know what for?"

"I'd bet it has to do with yesterday's announcement. I bet he's asking all the former trainers that work there to bring in strong Pokemon for something educational."

"I'm surprised he didn't call me in if that's the case," Elliot chuckled.

"Dad…" Luca wanted to scream it, but also didn't want to wake up his brother. Spectral loved his beauty sleep.

"Oh come on, laugh at your old man's jokes for once. It's courtesy at this rate."

"This is a trainer event, I'm sure of it. If he was planning anything involving taming or battling wild Pokemon, then he'd absolutely go to you over me," Luca said, loosely pointing a finger at his father. "That's always been your specialty."

"Fine, fine," Elliot sighed. "So, who did you choose to take in? I don't have your 'superpower' of being able to know what Pokemon is in a Poke Ball at a glance, and you have quite a few Pokemon to choose from."

"Alan," Luca said without any hesitation. "His anxiety has been peaking over the past week. So I figure instead of spending an evening with him to calm him down like the norm, I'd just take him into work with me for a day. That'll relax him for sure."

"That's my son," Elliot smiled. "You're always thoughtful when it comes to things like that."

Luca finished his food and stood up, putting away the Poke Ball and making ready to leave. As he made his way to the front door, Elliot skipped out of the kitchen and stood in Luca's way. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Luca smiled, and shook his head. Without another word between them, father and son embraced in a warm hug that lasted a few seconds. Once it was over, Elliot gave Luca a kiss on the forehead before stepping aside and letting Luca pass. "I love you. Have a great day at work."

"I love you too, Dad," Luca said back. He opened the front door and began to head out, but his father called him right before the door closed.

"Consider walking with Alan!" he said, waving at Luca. "I bet you'd both enjoy it!"

Luca grabbed the Poke Ball from his pocket again, lightly tossing into the air and letting it fall gently back into the palm of his hand. "I like that," he said.

––––––––––

"Let's do it."

"All right, so that's the mini-tour of the main building."

"Whoa… Neat."

"We've got two more stops till we settle down and get to work. The first is this office."

"Uh-huh…"

"The second is where I work."

"Oka—wait what!? We haven't even—? I thought you said you worked here?"

"Kinda like how you always like to draw in that one corner of the house, I do all my work in a certain part of the building."

"Oh."

"We go there after we go here."

"And what's behind this door?"

"My boss's office."

"Y-your b-b-b-boss!? Already? I—Maybe I should stay behind and just wait for you…"

"Nope. You're coming in with me and meeting him. I get the feeling he'll want to see you."

"Oh."

"Ready, Alan?"

"No… Is it ok that I'm nervous about this? It's your boss..."

"Yeah, but... Well we can't really waste more time, so we're gonna have to go in anyway."

"Ohhh…"

Without further delay, Luca gently knocked on the wood door in front of them two times. There was no verbal response from within, though it wasn't long before footsteps were heard coming from the other side. Soon enough, the door opened, the man on the other end smiled slightly when he saw Luca waiting for him.

"Oh. How funny. I wasn't expecting you till later. Please, come in."

Luca said nothing in response, simply accepting the man's proposition and stepping inside the room. He signalled Alan to follow, though it was clear from just one look that his friend had been frozen by fear.

The owner of the office saw this, and lightened his smile even more. "Good! You did bring a friend," he said to Luca. "Please, feel free to come inside."

His words did nothing to stop Alan's visible jittering. "Alan, come on. It's fine," Luca assured.

"O-okay…"

Alan carefully made his way into the office, meekly standing next to Luca as his boss closed the door behind him and made his way to behind his desk.

The room wasn't particularly impressive at a glance. If anything, it seemed rather disorganized. Though the intricate wooden craftsmanship that spanned the entirety of the room gave off an air of great formality and importance, it was easily betrayed by the numerous filing cabinets and shelves filled with binders that had loose papers visible in spades. The long windows had been covered by shades, leaving much of the room to be lit by a single overhead lamp hanging over the desk. The desk itself matched the room, bearing an intricate wood design while also being subject to the same mess of strewn about and loose papers.

Yet somehow, despite the total inexplicable chaos of documents on the desk, the plaque with the title of "Headmaster" inscribed on it stood firmly.

The headmaster himself was much more well kept, wearing a white dress shirt and a red tie, with a tan suit jacket neatly hanging on the back of the door out. All of that neatly complimented his long and well combed black hair, which still managed to keep its own uniquely casual style despite his best attempts. As he crossed his legs and got comfortable on his chair, the headmaster's blue dress pants became briefly visible, though vanished behind the desk he sat behind in mere moments.

He gave a small "Hm." Evidently, the headmaster was interested in Luca's friend that he'd brought along. Tall, yellow with black stripes in certain areas, pointed ears, and a tail ending with a red orb. To someone who had never seen one like him before, it was a bit of a marvel to see one in person. "So, this is who you brought to the school today. Would you like to introduce me to your Ampharos, Luca?"

Luca nodded. "This is Alan."

Alan waved nervously. "Hello…"

"And Alan was a part of my team when I travelled through Johto a few years back."

"I see. He certainly looks capable." The headmaster turned to Alan and smiled again. "Hello, Alan," he said. "Welcome to Aspertia Grade School. A riveting name for the region's best school, I know."

Though the man seemed to chuckle at his own sarcasm, Alan's response was nothing but a forced smile.

The man noticed. "He seems...shy," the headmaster commented.

"I wouldn't really call it shy, honestly," Luca said, looking thoughtful. "Moreso...awkward?"

"Sorry," Alan muttered.

"And Alan, this is my boss and the guy in charge of the school, Headmaster Cheren."

"Does he even know what a 'headmaster' is?" Cheren asked. He then brought his attention back towards the Ampharos. "Forgive me if I ask any insensitive questions, Alan. Please, express your grievances towards what I say if you have any."

"I don't know what it means, no," Alan said, shaking his head. "I-it's fine, though. I understand."

"I see," Cheren replied. "My position of Headmaster simply means that I'm the one who oversees the school, its staff, and its students. I'm highest up in the ranks of power."

"And that's why he's my boss," Luca added. "And speaking of that. Cheren, did you call me here for a reason?"

"If I'm being perfectly honest, Luca, I fully expected you to show up at your usual late hour, but comply with my request of bringing a Pokemon," Cheren said, leaning back a bit. "It seems I forgot how dedicated you are to your job."

Luca smirked at this a bit. "Should I be sorry?"

"No, not at all," Cheren replied. "It means I can explain this part easier and save time later." He cleared his throat. "Do you know why I asked you to bring in a Pokemon today?"

"I'd imagine it has something to do with yesterday's big announcement," Luca said, nodding. "With the whole champion and the tournament and all that jazz. I got home in the middle of it."

"Oh, good. You heard that. I wasn't sure if you had, considering your weekend schedule." Cheren smiled. "That saves me even more time. Here. I wanted to do something for the students today in light of that. I figure many of them may be interested to see what an actual trainer and their Pokemon are like, especially after what was said yesterday. I'm sure several students have never seen either before."

"So you asked me and any other former trainers in the school to bring in our Pokemon so the students could see and interact with us and the Pokemon firsthand."

"Exactly," Cheren said, now leaning forwards with his arms resting on his desk.

"Oh. So I'm like...being used for teaching?" Alan asked. "About Pokemon and trainers?"

"That's the idea I'm getting out of this," Luca said back.

"So he understands the gist of it?" Cheren asked, looking at Luca.

Luca simply nodded back.

"Perfect." Cheren rose. "Absolutely perfect. Here's the plan. You and...Alan?"

"Yep."

"I'm going to call all the classes and faculty to the backyard in about an hour from now."

"This school has a backyard?" Alan asked, though he spoke so quietly that not even Luca heard him.

"When I do that, rather than going with them, you and Alan come here to my office instead," Cheren continued. "Sounds good?"

Luca and Alan both nodded.

"Right. Then let's put a pin in this brief meeting and take it back out when the time is right, okay? You two are free to go," Cheren said, waving them off.

The two began heading for the door, both giving light thanks to Cheren on their way out. But as Luca put his hand on the doorknob, Cheren snapped his fingers, grabbing both their attention again. "Oh, yes. Alan, you're free to roam around the school if you want," he added. "Just don't disturb any in-progress classes if you can help it."

"Oh." Alan blushed a bit, smiling. "That's nice of you, but I think I'll just hang out with Luca instead," he said, shaking his head.

"Yeah. He'll just stick with me most likely," Luca said, giving Cheren a nod. "Thanks for the offer, though. We'll see you later, Cheren."

"You'd better," Cheren chuckled. "See you then."

––––––––––

Aspertia Grade School was well known across all of Unova as being the pinnacle of education in the country before highschool level. It was an elementary school, a middle school, and a trainer's school all in one, and it was the best in the region in all 3 categories. The teachers were highly experienced, well disciplined, and well beloved by their students. The halls and classrooms were spotless, and the the amount of resources any student could access at almost any time was beyond compare. Students that graduated from there, even if just for their last year of school, often found above average success in the working fields. Even the workers there earned salaries far above the normal pay grade of people in their profession.

But, of course, with any good school came the problem of paying for it. Its quality had to come from somewhere, and that school bill was one of the biggest reasons for it. Despite the incredible opportunities that the school offered, many bright minds would never be able to attend it due to a lack of funds, something the school was notoriously strict on not waiving.

Some parents would scrape their entire life savings to send their children there during their middle school years, with the belief that after education there, they would be able to not only make enough money to make up for the tuition, but still make more than enough to make their own sustainable living.

For Luca and Spectral, this was not the case. For as long as the twins could remember, they had been a high class family, and they never knew how this came to be. They knew their father was not born a rich man in any sense, and that realistically speaking he had most likely come from a background that was anything but wealthy, but he had never told his children how he amassed his fortune. The only hint they ever received was that the man had been incredibly smart with how he lived and spent in the years before having children. Affording eight years of school for the two boys was hardly a problem for him, even with the high cost.

Thus, Luca was extremely familiar with the school and how it functioned both during his days as a student, and now during his time as an employee of the very place that taught him. After leaving Cheren's office, Luca led Alan down countless hallways and corridors that made the poor Ampharos feel like he was being taken through a maze. They passed by several teachers and students on the way to their destination, though neither of them were able to stop and say hi to anyone who was interested.

As the two continued moving throughout the school, Luca suddenly turned to Alan as they rounded a corner. "Alan, have I ever told you what my job actually is here?" he asked.

"Uh.. Well, it's a school, so you're probably a teacher. Right?"

"Nope, not a teacher. Somehow I knew you'd say that," Luca said, sounding slightly amused.

Alan sighed. "Dang it."

"But that's exactly why I asked. Take a look up ahead. Straight in front of us."

Alan didn't even need to squint to see what was coming up. "It's a door."

"Uh-huh. And can you read what's next to the door?"

"Oh! Uh…" Despite now being right in front of the door, Alan had to squint to read the sign above it. "'Pokemon House', yeah?"

"Perfect," Luca clapped. "This is where I work."

"But I thought you worked at the school?"

"The Pokemon House is the school. It's just another part of it." Luca opened the door forwards and offered Alan to step through first. "But it's pretty far out of the way. I'm sure you noticed we were walking down those halls for quite a while. It's like five, maybe ten minutes from Cheren's office to here."

"Whoa…"

Luca entered shortly after hearing Alan's gasp, bearing a cocky grin and a careless shrug. "I don't teach but I do do this," he said.

"Luca!?"

"Bah!"

Luca's smug attitude was instantly shattered as an unexpected voice called his name in a shout. Neither he nor Alan were given the opportunity to examine the glory of the Pokemon House before they were suddenly approached by a breathless and concerned looking man in his mid thirties. He looked up at Luca, giving a brief sigh of relief between his exhausted breaths. "Whew… It is you… You picked a great day to come in early, Luca."

That concerned Luca a bit. "Peter? What's up?"

"Lira's out," Peter sighed.

"Oh boy," Luca sighed. Then he perked up. "Wait, _already_? It's barely 8AM!"

"I know! That's why I'm in such a scramble! It's two hours too early!" Peter said. "Of course, Natasha is losing her mind—"

"And you can't search for Lira while you're spending your time making sure Natasha doesn't pass out from anxiety," Luca finished.

"Yep," Peter sighed. "I'm pretty sure Natasha's heart rate cut in half when she saw you come in. So can you like...work your magic and bring the little one back?" It was then that Peter noticed Alan standing there. "Also hi, who's this?"

"Oh, this is Alan. He's with me. Cheren asked me to bring him in," Luca said before turning around. Alan turned around with him, now noticing the large opening to a moderately sized outdoor field, which eventually led into the forest surrounding Aspertia City.

No wonder the lighting looked different.

Facing the outdoors, Luca cupped his hands over his mouth and began to yell.

"Lira!? Lira sweetie, where are you?" He stopped for a moment, visibly thinking about what to say next, before continuing with, "Now isn't the time to be playing hide and seek!"

Immediately from out in the distance, a loud response was heard.

"Papa!"

Eventually, a small, dog-like creature came running out onto the field, boasting beautiful orange fur and a growing beige mane across its chest and head. It made a beeline towards Luca when it saw him, who had already crouched down to the ground and extended his arms out.

The young Growlithe, smiling brighter than the sun, eagerly accepted Luca's offer and jumped into his arms. He wasted no time picking her up and lifting the pup up to his chest. "There you are," he said lovingly as the Pokemon gave him a friendly lick on the chin.

"Good morning, papa!" she said.

Alan's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, WHAT!?"

"Well good morning to you too, Lira," Luca said, shooting Alan a short glance with a judgmental expression. "Whatcha doin' running around so early in the morning? You have your mother worried sick." He began to carry Lira inside, gently rocking her as he moved forwards.

Despite this, she was still very jumpy. She nearly leapt out of Luca's arms a couple of times, only to be stopped by him suddenly lowering his arms lower to the ground, only to lift them right back up, as if he were dropping her and then picking her up again. "Well—well, you said that I wasn't allowed to leave the pen while you guys were here unless you said so. So I left before you got here! I didn't break the rules, papa!"

Luca chuckled a bit. "You didn't break the rules after all, huh? Did you open that big door to the field all by yourself?"

"I pushed it and pulled it until it finally opened and let me through!"

"The door was slightly ajar when I got here," Peter said with a nod. "When I saw she wasn't in her pen, I put two and two together."

"There's a door?" Alan asked, sounding extremely confused. "What's going on?"

"Peter, could you please catch Alan up to speed on what this place is and what's going on?" Luca asked. "I'd tell him myself, but I think Natasha's gonna want her baby back first."

"Huh?"

"Oh!"

Though both of them said "Wait" at the same time, Luca did nothing of the sort, continuing down the Pokemon House and talking sweetly to Lira as if he'd heard nothing at all. The two awkwardly turned towards each other as they followed.

"Funny. I'm usually the one asking Luca to talk to a Pokemon for me. Now we've flipped positions," Peter said with a nervous chuckle. "And I don't even know how to do it…"

Alan just sighed and shrugged, looking worrisome.

"You wouldn't happen to be a talker, would you?" Peter asked. "I know some of Luca's are but...some aren't too."

Alan shook his head.

"Aww man..."

As he said this, though, Alan pulled out a notebook and pencil. Peter didn't expect Alan to do much with them until he passed Peter the book.

"Huh? What's…" Peter gazed down at the notebook before continuing, and suddenly his entire mood shifted. "Oh! You're literate!" He passed back the notebook. "That's cool! So they did teach you something in that crazy household after all, huh?"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Peter," Luca started, looking back just enough to see Peter. "We prefer it when everyone can understand what Pokemon are saying, not just us. And that's why we like teaching them to read, write, and speak like we do."

Alan shrugged again, but this time he was smiling. He began taking in his surroundings, finally getting a proper look at the Pokemon House that Luca worked in.

It was a tall and wide building, with several glass panes separating the complex into different rooms. Each room had several open top pens of all shapes and sizes containing a plethora of different Pokemon, giving it the appearance of a greenhouse of Pokemon. From the common Lillipup of Unova to the foreign Psyduck of Kanto. From Riolu to Fletchling, Mudsdale to Kecleon, Appletun to Azumarill. Given the size of this part of the building and what he could see in the rooms over, he knew there were many more Pokemon here to be seen, but also knew that the space was definitely limited. Suddenly, being from Johto didn't feel so out of place.

It was still somewhat early in the morning, so most Pokemon were either asleep or too tired to care about the passerby. Those who were awake though looked very comfortable, and many of them waved to and greeted Luca as he passed by, greetings which Luca happily returned in quick breaths between sentences directed towards Lira.

Eventually, the trio stopped in front of a pen that housed a single Arcanine, who looked both beside itself with worry and so happy that it'd been moved to tears. Every time she opened her mouth to say something, all that came out was an excited breath. She either couldn't find the words or she was incapable of saying them.

"Here we are, Natasha," Luca said, gently lowering Lira into the pen with her mother.

"Papa, can we play later today?" Lira asked, looking up at Luca. "We barely played at all last week, and Mama's always so tired… It's boring here..." Her tone sounded more sad than bored.

"You're getting bored and want to play with Papa?" Luca asked. "Hmm." He crouched down to meet Lira at eye level. "How about we play later today, Lira?"

"Really!?"

"But, you need to promise Papa something first," Luca said, holding up a finger.

"Anything!"

"Papa and Mama said last time that you can't leave the pen while we're here, right? Not unless we give you permission?"

Lira nodded fervently. "Uh-huh! Uh-huh! I've kept that promise Papa, you know I have!"

"I believe you, Lira. You're a good girl," Luca said, ruffling the fur on Lira's head. "And now, I need you to make Mama and Papa a new promise. If Papa's not here, and if Grandpops also isn't here, then you can't leave the pen unless Mama says yes, okay?"

"Whaaaaaat? But then...then I can't get out until you get here! Mean ol' mama never lets me leave the pen!"

Natasha visibly reacted to that, but Luca gave her a quick calming smile. "Lira...don't talk about your Mama that way, sweetie."

"But...she never lets me leave…"

"You know why we don't want you out of the pen without permission, right?" Luca asked.

Lira sighed in response. "Because you want to keep me safe…"

"That's right, Lira," Luca said.

"But I'm six months now!" Lira said, leaping up and down. "I can be safe! I can defend myself! I can fight!" Lira bore her fangs, though looked more cute than intimidating as she gave her best "Grr!"

"You're a strong girl now, huh?" Luca chuckled. "You wanna do some roughhousing later today when we play, Lira?"

"Oh! Yes yes! Yes please!"

"Then you need to promise me you won't leave the pen unless Papa or Grandpops are here, unless Mama says it's okay, okay?"

Lira's mood shifted when she heard this, though she looked brighter than her earlier complaint. "Aww…okay. I promise, Papa."

"Good girl," Luca smiled. "Now, spend some time with Mama, all right? Papa needs to get to work."

"Okay Papa!"

With that, Lira turned around, losing all interest in Luca and beginning to talk with her mother, who was still in the process of calming down from earlier. She looked much better than when Peter saw her earlier.

Peter himself looked much better as well, with most of his anxiety from before having been replaced by a heartwarmed smile. Luca had almost forgotten he and Alan were there when he turned around, and nearly jumped because of it. Immediately he grabbed them both by the shoulder and led them away from Lira and Natasha's pen so that they wouldn't hear what he had to say.

"Jeez, neither of you said a single word while I was doing that?" Luca asked.

"And interrupt that magic? I wouldn't dare," Peter said, crossing his arms.

"Magic? Really?" Luca asked, slightly chuckling.

"Dude. That was awesome." Alan peeked over Luca's shoulder to Lira's pen, though he immediately stopped looking when Lira looked back. "You make an amazing dad."

Luca smirked, trying to hide his blush. "I'm not like, actually her dad. You realize that, right?"

"She still calling you 'Papa'?" Peter asked.

Luca nodded. "Any opportunity she gets. I wonder if she even knows my name."

"Then as far as I'm concerned, you're totally her dad," Peter laughed. "And a damn good one at that. I don't need to be able to understand Pokemon to tell that much."

"Both of you? Really?" Luca asked, now covering his face in embarrassment. "I'm not that good, I swear."

"Well your dad has told me otherwise," Peter said.

"Aaaaaaaargh!" Luca couldn't even look at them anymore, turning away while still covering his face. "Not him too! Why does everyone think this!?"

Alan and Peter got a good laugh out of that. Though before Luca could chastise them for their act, they were all cut off by the loud ringing of a school bell. Alan, who was visibly spooked, instantly grabbed Peter for comfort. "Ok what was that!?" he asked. "That better not be an alarm!"

Luca laughed back a bit in revenge. "That's just the school bell, Alan. You're gonna hear it a lot throughout the day."

"Never heard a school bell before, huh?" Peter asked.

"Well that, and given what I know about his past, sudden loud noises are definitely something he does not take kindly to."

"Yikes. You hate to hear it," Peter sighed, slowly releasing himself from Alan's grip.

"I'll give you a heads up warning for when the bell will ring, Alan," Luca said, slowly easing Alan over to his side. "And so, with that said...prepare for a disembodied voice to begin speaking to no one in particular."

"_Good morning students."_

Alan jumped to Luca's shoulder this time. "Whoa!"

Luca continued talking over the voice on the loudspeaker. "And once he's done with his little speech here, you can expect another bell. You've been warned."

"Oh…"

––––––––––

For the next hour, Luca and Peter focused on their job. Working in the Pokemon House meant that they were in charge of ensuring that the Pokemon were all fed, cared for properly, and were comfortable. Students were allowed to come into the Pokemon House basically at will if they weren't in a class, so it was up to the two of them to make sure that the Pokemon were ready and relaxed for any unexpected visitors of any age who wanted to stop by and say hi to the Pokemon.

More and more Pokemon were waking up as the morning advanced in the Pokemon House, turning Luca and Peter from fairly relaxed workers who would occasionally chat as they passed by each other into diligent workers who took no time to distract themselves from the tasks at hand.

They hadn't even noticed the hour go by until the school bell rang again and freaked Alan out, who had been quietly sketching in his notebook while sitting in the nook between the door to the main building of the school and the door to the outdoor field.

The very moment after the bell finished ringing, a voice came through the loudspeaker once again. Unlike the longer set of announcements earlier in the day, this one was short and to the point.

"_All students, please report to the backyard for a special presentation. That is all students to the backyard for a special presentation."_

Just as suddenly as the voice had come, it vanished, and Alan swore he heard a collective groan come from inside the school once the loudspeaker clicked off. That collective groan was quickly replaced by a loud collection of footsteps that made Alan briefly question whether or not he was about to get run over by a Tauros stampede.

"Alan!"

"Gah!" Alan instantly snapped his notebook closed and stood up, standing as straight as possible. "I'm here!" he said.

"Relax, Alan," Luca said as he and Peter got closer. "It's time for us to go back to Cheren."

"Oh, you're not going to the backyard?" Peter asked. "He called all the faculty y'know."

"We probably will, but Cheren wanted to meet with us first," Luca said.

Peter nodded. "Got it. I'll meet you there, Luca." He smiled and waved to Alan as he entered the door to the school. "See you later, Alan!"

Alan finally eased up and gave a sigh of relief once Peter closed the door behind him.

"You good?" Luca asked.

"Yeah… Just on edge I guess. New place, you know?"

"Mmm…" Luca put a hand on Alan's shoulder. "Well, don't forget that I'm here, okay?"

"Right…"

"We should probably get going to Cheren's though. No time to lose."

"Actually, before we go, I had a question, Luca."

Luca perked up. "Hm?"

"If you're gone...and Peter's gone...and Elliot isn't working today...who's in charge of this place while you're all gone?"

"Oh, that's an easy one." Luca turned his attention to the back of the room, eyeing a certain pen near the corner. "Hey Seth!" he shouted across the room.

From the back of the room, a Venasaur stirred, lifting his head from a nap.

"We're all headed out for a while. You know the drill, right?"

Despite his slightly old appearance, his voice sounded rather young. "Of course, Luca," he said, rising to all fours and stretching. Once set, he made a massive leap out of his pen, somehow not waking the other Venasaur sharing the pen with him. "You have my word."

"You're the best, Seth," Luca said, giving a thumbs up. "All right Alan, now let's move."

Alan gave a meek wave and a weak "goodbye" to Seth before being whisked into the school hallways by Luca.

Most of the movement ruckus from earlier had since vanished, and had been replaced by complete and utter silence. Alan and Luca could still hear the distant echoing of footsteps deep within the maze of hallways, but it was too far away for either to care much.

"Who was that?" Alan asked as they began their long trip back to Cheren.

"Who, Peter?"

"No. The Venusaur."

"Oh. Seth? That's Ephraim's dad."

"What?!" Alan considered himself good friends with Ephraim, as the Bulbasaur was a common sight around the household. Yet, Alan only realized right there in the halls of the school that he'd never asked Ephraim about his parents or early childhood.

"And the other Venusaur in the pen is his mom, Erika. She came directly from Kanto, so she was named in honor of one of their gym leaders."

"Double what?!" Alan looked at the floor in disbelief. "But...Spectral told me you raised Ephraim from birth?"

"I have known Ephraim for a very long time. We've known each other most of his life. But, Ephraim was born here at the school. He was about two or three weeks old when we met and got him."

"Whoa… But Spectral?"

"He could just be misremembering," Luca shrugged. "With that big brain of his, I'd bet he gets some information all jumbled up and confused."

Alan took a moment to process that statement. "Is...that a compliment or an insult?" he asked.

"Yes."

Alan looked like he wanted to object to that response, but ended up saying nothing back and just sighing instead.

Their walk together was totally quiet after that all the way to Cheren's office, where Luca broke the silence upon making the final turn down the hall towards the place where Cheren worked.

"Oh. He's waiting."

Indeed, Cheren was standing just outside his office door, with both his arms crossed and a difficult to read expression present on his face. His gaze lightened a bit when he saw Luca and Alan, but he still looked stern when they approached him to talk.

"We're not too late, are we?" Luca asked. "We came right away."

"You're perfectly fine on time, Luca," Cheren replied, easing both his guests. "Funny. I have this unusual notion that you're the kind that will always be late, and yet history has always proven that you've always been very much on time to important events."

"Maybe that idea comes from Spectral," Luca said back with a hint of snobbishness.

"True. He is anything but punctual," Cheren said, hiding a bit of a smirk. "Let's not waste any more time than we have to, though. We're off to the backyard. Now."

"Just us three?" Luca asked.

"Everyone else is either already there or is on their way there. I waited here just for you," Cheren said, loosening his gaze.

"Why?"

"Am I not allowed to have a nice, quick chat with an old friend?"

Luca wanted to counter Cheren's point, but stopped himself mid breath. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"Old friend?" Alan asked. "What's he mean by 'old friend?'"

"What does he mean by 'old friend?'" Luca repeated. "Well, Cheren and I were students here at the same time. He knew Spectral way better than he knew me back in those days, though."

"We once took a class together, and were made partners for the year," Cheren explained. "Spectral was an incredibly smart student, and frequently got put into higher level classes. He was the salutatorian of his class."

"Salu-what?"

"The second smartest as recognized by the school. No, I was not number one," Luca added, knowing Alan would ask. "My grades were...not the greatest throughout my school life."

"During the class we shared, Spectral and I became good friends. And because we became good friends, it was only a matter of time before I would come to befriend his brother as well. I don't talk to either nearly as often anymore though. It's a shame," Cheren said, beginning to walk down the hallway on his own. He stopped once he passed Luca, turning around and inviting him and Alan to walk with him. "Didn't Spectral recently finish an internship?"

Luca picked up on the hint. "Uh, yeah, actually. He got back a couple of weeks ago." He began walking forwards too, eventually keeping pace with Cheren as they went down the halls while Alan trailed behind, wanting to catch up to the two men but also not wanting to distract them by running.

"Tell me about it."

"I'm afraid I don't know much," Luca sighed. "Spectral's been kinda vague on the details. All we know is that he spent a year in Kalos with their Pokemon Professor, whose name I cannot remember for the life of me."

"Kalos professor? I believe that would be Professor Sycamore?"

"Maybe," Luca shrugged. "But like, he's told us almost nothing else. He didn't even tell us what his job was or what he did. Just that he really enjoyed it."

"I see. At the very least, he's taking steps to build a future for himself. An internship is always a valuable experience." Cheren turned to face Luca. "And what about you? Do you plan to keep working as you are for the rest of your life?"

"I'm pretty damn happy with how things are now," Luca said, casually stretching a bit. "Two jobs, great family, good health, sustainable looking future… So yeah. If you'll have me, I'd love to keep working here."

"Considering the invaluable work you and your father have done for this school, I would be very surprised if either of you would ever be denied your job here," Cheren nodded. "Which, by the way, thank you for agreeing to do this."

"Do what? Work?"

"This event. The whole thing for Pokemon Trainers and yesterday's announcement."

"Oh. That. Yeah. Why would I not agree to this? You're my boss."

Cheren sighed. "I'm very conscious about your strong opinions on the ethics of Pokemon battling. Too conscious, even. It always makes me hesitant to ask you for anything at all related to Pokemon training. Even just simple questions like your experiences on your travels."

"Oh shoot. Cheren, dude, it's all fine," Luca said, concerned. He and Cheren stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway, giving Alan ample time to catch up as they prepped to head outside and join the rest of the school. "I mean like, asking me to battle and asking about my time as a trainer are two totally different things as far as I'm concerned."

"And if I were to ask you to battle?"

"Uh…" Luca thought over it for a bit. "It'd probably depend on the situation and reason. If I can avoid battling, I'd much prefer that, but if I'm left with no other options…"

"What if you were challenged? In front of a crowd?"

"If it's a crowd of strangers, I couldn't care less. If it's people that see me on the regular though, then I think I'd save myself the humiliation and go for it."

"I see." Cheren turned around and prepared to open the door. He gazed at the conglomeration of the students sitting on the benches outside, and the teachers trying their best to calm everyone down. He could hear the collective talking of all the people there, but couldn't make out a single word of what was being spoken. "In that case, Luca… I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Try to keep quiet," Cheren said. "Wait here for me to call you in. By then, you'll know what for." Cheren went all in with the door, pushing it open and heading outside. All the clamor of the students and faculty vanished instantly when Cheren stood in the center of the field of flattened earth, leaving behind complete silence in its wake as he observed both sides.

"What just happened?" Alan whispered to Luca.

"I have no idea," Luca whispered back. "He just left with an ominous warning that sounds like it came right out of a movie, but I don't know what it means."

"Oh, come on. I raised you better than this."

Luca and Alan both yelped at the same time at the sound of a new voice behind them, barely remembering Cheren's request to stay as quiet as possible.

However, they both recognized the voice in an instant, and swerved around to meet them.

"Dad?" Luca gasped.

"In the flesh," Elliot replied.

"I'm here too!" came a fourth voice as it climbed up onto Elliot's shoulder. Ephraim gave Luca and Alan a wave. "'Sup guys?"

"Hi Ephraim," Alan said, waving back. "Dude, you never told me your parents live here."

"Yeah. Luca brings me here like once a month to say hi."

"Oh."

"But not today. Why are you here?" Luca asked.

"What can I say? I wanted to watch."

"We both did," Elliot added.

"Watch what?"

"I thought you'd've figured this out by now, Luca," Elliot said shaking his head. "You love playing around with people in the exact same manner, too. How do you not see it?"

Luca took a deep breath, thought for a bit, and then shook his head. "Am I being daft right now? Am I missing an incredibly obvious hint?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

"I think I get it," Alan said, looking thoughtful.

"Whaaaaat?" Luca sighed. "We're on the clock here so like, can someone explain it?"

Ephraim started jumping up and down on Elliot's shoulder. "Oh, oh! Me, me, me!"

Luca just pointed at Ephraim in return, which to him meant "go for it."

"Ok so, yesterday. Announcement about return of the Unova League. Today, you get called into work early, are asked to bring a Pokemon, and then Cheren wants to meet you alone with that Pokemon. He mentions that he's looking for people with experience as Pokemon trainers."

"Uh-huh…"

"Literally right outside this door, Cheren asks you under what circumstances you'd be willing to participate in a Pokemon battle, despite your overall apprehensiveness about the sport."

"Okay…"

"He mentions a specific scenario. One that resembles the one that's happening outside the door in front of you. And there are no other trainers outside from what you can see."

"One that resembles the one— Wait."

"And he apologizes to you before heading outside."

Luca's eyes widened. "Oh shit."

"He gets it," Ephraim chuckled.

"Yeeeeeah...that's the idea I was getting," Alan said.

"And you knew?" Luca asked, looking at Elliot and Ephraim. "Did Cheren tell you this was his plan?"

Elliot nodded. "Yep. He texted me shortly after you left, and invited me to watch. And I brought Ephraim along, as he insisted he watch too."

"And you did nothing to stop him?"

"I want to see you battle," Elliot said, suddenly sounding scarily firm. "He does too. Here. Today. And nobody wants you to hold back."

"But—"

"—and so, I'd like to invite our special guest to join me here on the battlefield!" Luca heard it out of the corner of his ear. Cheren had spoken up during that sentence and that sentence alone, and now he was staring right at Luca.

"That's you, champ," Elliot said, patting Luca on the back.

"I—… Ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuck… Okay." Luca took a deep breath and shook off his anxiety. "Okay. Okay. No holding back huh? I can do that." He briefly turned around, looked at Alan, and pointed at the ground. "Stay here. I'll call you in," he said.

Before Alan could question why, Luca was already stepping out the door and to the school's backyard, where several hundred pairs of eyes were suddenly laid on him. He walked forwards with a calm and cool stride, showing no signs of the fear and anxiety that had his heart racing faster with every step he took.

When Luca passed by the headmaster, Cheren whispered into Luca's ear, "The floor's all yours."

Luca's only acknowledgement was a smirk blossoming on his face.

Once Luca reached the center of the battlefield, he stopped and looked around at the bleachers. There were barely any empty seats to be seen, and almost every single person had their attention focused solely on Luca. _"All out," _he repeated in his head.

"So. _'Why the heck did Cheren just call forth the guy who spends all his time working in the Pokemon House? He's not even a teacher, what's he gonna show us? The optimal way for a Trainer to pet their Pokemon? Lame.'_ Is that what most of you are thinking?"

There were a few chuckles from the audience, and Luca heard one kid behind him whisper "Oh shit" a little too loudly, but for the most part, everything remained silent, and people's faces still looked dull and unimpressed.

"Well, surprise. Before I worked here, I used to be a professional trainer. Look up my name. Luca Mararcich. M-A-R-A-R-C-I-C-H. You'll get results. Like my thirteenth place in the Johto League three years ago. First time at a national, mind you."

Suddenly, several of the bored reactions Luca had been seeing from the crowd of students had become bitterly intrigued.

"Today I'd like to give you a taste of what it's like to see a professional trainer battling in person," Luca said, trying his best to keep the crowd's newfound attention. He was having trouble coming up with ideas. "I'd like to show you that you can reach this level! The level of a Gym Leader. The level of someone who has made it to the national level and made an impact in their first appearance. I'm nineteen, didn't go to trainer school, and have been a trainer for five years. I've lived right here in Aspertia City my whole life. No one else in my family was or is a trainer. I got that league placement three years ago! If I can do it, so can you."

Suddenly, an idea struck. Luca pointed to Cheren, confident and aggressive. He swallowed all his pride in one gulp. "Cheren. I'll raise the stakes. You are the Gym Leader of Aspertia City. You wanted to battle me as a demonstration for the students. So, I wish to challenge you to a gym battle, right here and now. One on one!"

Several "Oohs" came from the students. Even Cheren had pursed his lips together in interest. He looked as though he was debating whether or not to accept the challenge.

"Well?" Luca asked.

Cheren grinned a bit. "You act like I would decline. I would be more than happy to accept you as my first gym challenger since yesterday's announcement."

Cheren crossed the battlefield, stopping briefly as he passed by Luca. "I forgot how good of an actor you are," he whispered. "Very dramatic. Very real. Full marks. I'll join in."

"You flatter me," Luca said, ensuring he kept his game face on.

Cheren continued his trek to the opposite end of the field. Once ready, he turned around and drew a Poke Ball in one swift movement. "I invite you to present your Pokemon first, Luca," Cheren said. "I have no intention of using anyone other than the Pokemon in my hand right now."

"That's not proper etiquette," Luca said, shaking his head. "But, it hardly matters. I already know the Pokemon I'm using today." He snapped his fingers and pointed forwards. "Alan!"

Only hearing the sound of his name, Alan stepped forth from the same spot Luca had emerged from, walking in proud and confident steps as he resisted the temptation to gaze at the crowd watching him. He only stopped moving forwards when he stood in front of Luca, ready to fight whatever it was that Cheren sent out.

"A friend of mine, straight from the Johto region!" Luca exclaimed, trying to keep the students excited about seeing a foreign Pokemon that didn't also reside in the Pokemon House. "And one of my aces during my time there."

Alan beat his fists together, before letting out a very awkward sounding "Yeaaaaaaaaaah!"

Luckily no one in the audience understood what he said, so it sounded like a normal battle cry.

"Nice entrance," Luca said just loud enough so that Alan could hear.

"I heard your speech, man," Alan muttered. "That was cool." He smiled. "So I tried to be cool, too. Like we did back in Johto. Did it work?"

"Well…" Luca scratched his chin a bit. "Back in Johto, we looked cooler while battling than we did entering the ring. So let's emphasize that, okay?"

"Right."

Their attention shifted back to Cheren, who was still in the very same pose with the very same Poke Ball as before Luca summoned Alan. "Do you own any Pokemon with type advantage over me, Luca?" he asked. "You are aware, after all, that I'm a normal-type specialist, yes?"

Luca nodded. "Very. And I do own a rock-type, as well as a few Pokemon who like fighting-type moves. But I figured we could go for an even battle. You probably have counters to those things with your stronger Pokemon anyway. A more neutral Pokemon is something you're less likely to have a counter for."

"You're not wrong," Cheren said, slightly grinning. Luca's analysis had gotten a few students even more interested. "However, what I have in my hands is a counter for you specifically, Luca. It works regardless of your current Pokemon. Your neutral pick can't have prepared you for it."

Now there were many audible "Oohs" from the students. Luca could see everyone's gaze suddenly move from Cheren to him.

His response was simple. "Bring it."

"Hmph. Maurice!"

Cheren threw the ball in a single motion that looked unprofessional. He brought the hand holding the ball down from the opposite shoulder directly across his sternum, and threw the Poke Ball at an angle that made his hand look like it had to uncomfortably contort. Yet, Cheren did the motion so swiftly and fluidly that everyone ended up not caring. It still looked clean.

From Cheren's Poke Ball emerged a large dog-like Pokemon, with long beige and white plumes running from its face all the way down to the ground beneath. The rest of its body was surprisingly rectangular, boasting shaggy dark blue and gray fur. Its size, girth, and confident resting face made it intimidating to look at.

This intimidation effect didn't seem to be doing anything to Alan, who was looking at the opposing Stoutland with his own confident facade. On the inside, he was more curious than anything else. It was a Pokemon he'd never seen before. How would it act? What was it like? Was it as fierce as it appeared, or was it a gentle giant? What was its favorite color? The questions never stopped.

However, on Luca, the intimidation worked rather well. Luca's fake confidence had been completely replaced with an expression of genuine shock, a look he couldn't wipe off his face no matter what he tried. "Maurice?" he repeated.

"Hmm?" The Stoutland looked past Alan at Luca, and his eyes suddenly widened. Quickly, he recomposed himself and returned to his stalwart gaze. "Ah… So this is how our paths cross again."

"Maurice…" Luca suddenly sounded much more dejected.

"You do remember me, right, Luca?" Maurice asked, tilting his head a bit. "Or was I just forgettable and unimportant to you, too?"

"That's a counter to me all right." Luca finally managed to correct his attitude, returning to his firm stance and clearing his throat. "How could I ever forget, Maurice?" he nodded. "Five years…"

"Five years," Maurice affirmed. "Five years ago, we met. T'was a day that changed both of our lives...all of our lives. Forever. If not for that day, we wouldn't be standing here now."

"Don't remind me," Luca groaned.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm glad we met, Maurice. Don't get the wrong idea," Luca said. "But that day isn't a day I like to remember."


	4. Chapter 3: Beginning

_Did it all really start five years ago? No, not really. It's more like five and a half. Still five, but five with an asterisk. I'm nineteen now, but when it happened, my birthday was months away. I was thirteen. _

_That's important. Me being thirteen is...very important. _

_Everyone says the early teenage years are life changing because your whole world just ends up changing on you. Well, they weren't wrong. When I was thirteen, the whole world did change on me, but not in the ways it does for anyone else. Graduating school, I felt nothing gained or lost. There weren't any major changes in our family. Mom was still gone. Dad was still working. Spectral's overall mood had changed but it'd become consistent enough by this point. Everyone was healthy. The future looked bright._

_So what happened?_

_How do I explain this… _

_I suppose the easiest way would be an old saying. Old but true._

_The truth hurts._

_––––––––––_

Early spring. The air was warm, the skies were clear, and the sound of cooing Pidove had begun to return to the once cold-stricken lands of Unova. It was the perfect day to go outside, relax in the sun, and play with friends and family in the warm weather on a Friday afternoon after school had let out.

But instead, that afternoon, thirteen year old Luca was sitting around indoors, bored and grouchy. He knew what the weather was like. He'd have loved to go outside and play with anyone. _Anyone. _He didn't care if it was one of the local kids his age or just a random Pokemon he'd find in the wild. It just had to be someone.

_But I couldn't because of her. She said no._

_I don't hate her. I don't think I could ever say such a thing, even back then. She was a fine woman. I respected her. I'd go so far as to say I loved her. She treated me much kinder than I'd ever expected her to. I still feel bad for sometimes doubting her sincerity._

She'd offered to take complete care of him for a full month. Food, housing, attention, all the works. No father supervision required. He was allowed to bring Ephraim with him. He got to keep his odd sense of style without any apparent judgement. On his second day there, she made the correct assumption that Luca needed glasses, something that Elliot had never imagined his sons needing, and she listened when Luca said he'd prefer to wear contacts to glasses.

_I'm still wearing those contacts today. Thank goodness for it. My father would've been too scared to take me to an eye doctor I'm sure. She was incredibly helpful. _

_...No Helpful is an understatement. All the things she did for me, all the things she wanted for me… She had an ulterior motive at the end of the day, sure, but even with that, I know she genuinely cared for me every second of every day. Even today, I wonder if that's what it feels like to have a mother._

All Luca needed to do in return was listen whenever she told him to do something. For the most part, he complied. She'd never asked anything unreasonable out of him. Anything that could be taken as unusual or out of line, she'd always preface exactly what she was about to ask of him without excluding any facts.

_But of course, on this day, she asked me to stay put and do nothing. Just relax in one room so as not to get in the way of anything. I knew she trusted me to stay out of the way—she said as much—but she didn't want to risk anything. So, into the room I went, claiming a corner and sitting there, bored out of my mind. Ephraim was with me then, but he was fast asleep. And just when the solitude began to hit its peak…_

Luca heard the door behind him slowly opening, followed by the sound of footsteps entering the room. He didn't bother turning around to greet his guest. He already knew who it was.

"Hey, Luca. Busy?"

No response. The guest took it as an invitation to step in a little bit more.

"I thought I'd check in on you. I'm not interrupting you, am I?"

"There's nothing _to_ interrupt," Luca sighed. Despite this, he signalled the visitor inside. "So the company is nice."

"Luca…"

The man stepped inside, closing the door behind him and making his way in front of Luca, who was sitting on the ground with his head low. The man was far older than Luca, looking to be somewhere in his mid to late sixties, if not his seventies. It was difficult to discern, as his hair didn't yet show many signs of graying. However, from the way he moved to the sound of his voice, it was clear this was a senior.

The first thing he saw once fully in the room was Ephraim asleep in the corner opposite of Luca. "Asleep… You've been alone all this time. You're bored, aren't you?" he asked, reaching down and putting a hand on Luca's shoulder.

"Yeah…"

"You don't like being locked up in here."

"Mhm."

"Me giving you these slow rubs on the back is getting awkward."

Luca chuckled as he passively observed the man's hand slowly yet gently going up and down Luca's upper back. "Yeah it kinda is."

"Yep." The man instantly took his hands off Luca. "Sorry."

"You're good."

The man stood up now, backing away a bit to give Luca his space.

"Are you upset with her?" he asked.

"A little." Luca said back. "Like...I get why she did this, but I feel like she could have done something else."

"I agree."

Luca looked up briefly with hope in his eyes. "And you're sure you can't let me go?"

"You remember what your father said. Aurea's the one in charge of you, not me," the man said, sounding solemn. "She should have prepared further in advance for this. I'm sure she would have, but of course—"

"She forgot," Luca finished, lowering his head again. "How does one forget about a whole field trip happening at the place you own?"

"My daughter is a busy woman," the man said, smiling a bit. "She didn't mean to forget, I'm sure. But with everything we do around here, some things are bound to slip our minds. Even professionals aren't safe from an overcrowded memory. I've felt my age cause my memory to suffer already."

_He was a good man. I liked him. But he sure talked about his age a lot. I didn't really consider him that old. I don't think I ever learned his actual age, and I'd feel very awkward about calling him to ask._

"Hey, Cedric? What do you two study?" Luca asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Like...you've been researching Pokemon and stuff your whole life, right? What do you study? I've never known. I'm curious. Teach me. Pass the time a bit."

"You really don't—? Well, when's the last time one of us made a headline worthy discovery..." Cedric looked away for a moment, pensive. "How does she explain it again to kids your age? Uh… Are you familiar with the study of Pokemon origins?"

Luca's head perked up at the sound of this, but he looked extremely confused. "You mean like...the cartoon?"

_I can't believe I said that..._

Cedric looked just as bewildered. "What!? No! Not the cartoon! Why would we spend our life's work studying a cartoon made for kids and teens!? Why would _anyone_—? Well...I suppose there _are_ people who would do that. Psychologists and the like. But my daughter and I are not such people. It is not the purpose of this laboratory."

"So Pokemon origins as in...where Pokemon come from?" Luca asked.

"Yes! Much better."

"Oh." Luca suddenly looked much less interested, but this didn't deter the man in the slightest.

"It's been our life's goal to find out the origins of every single Pokemon out there. The idea of being able to know where a species of Pokemon came from...where it was born and created and how it evolved…to say that it fascinates us is an understatement. I don't even know if I could put the feeling into words. That's what we study here."

"And uh...how close are you guys to getting to that goal?"

"Aurea and I have made great strides to understand the origins of Pokemon. We've travelled not only all over Unova, but around the whole world in search of even small hints at the origins of Pokemon."

"But how close are you?"

"I can't say."

Despite his lack of passion in the topic, Luca somehow found himself half-infuriated. "What!?"

Cedric immediately went on the defensive. "No no! Not that kind of 'I can't say.' I'd tell you if I knew, but I don't know!"

"You don't?"

The old man took a deep breath. "We don't know how many Pokemon are out there that still haven't been discovered, Luca. For all we know, there could be thousands of species that we have no idea about. Even if we were to document every known Pokemon's origins, there would always be more work cut out for us in the future. The research never ends."

"Oh." Luca's face suddenly lit up. "OH! And that's why—Ohhhhhhhh."

"What is it, Luca? Realize something?"

Luca nodded. "Aurea gave me a long speech last week after I told her that my father never told me why he sent me here to you guys. She said a lot of things that I didn't understand...though now it all makes slightly more sense."

Cedric looked taken aback. "What? Your father never told you? Really?"

"Yeah. He just kinda asked my brother and I to play rock-paper-scissors and the loser would need to go with him on a long trip. I lost, so the next day I was brought here, was informed I'd be staying here for a month, and that I was to follow all of Aurea's orders."

"That's...not a very good way of doing things," Cedric said, sounding disappointed.

_Life's already hard when you're a single parent with two teenage kids. Life's even harder when you're my dad raising us..._

"Oh trust me. Dad knows. Would you believe me if I said that the reason he did things so hastily and poorly was because he forgot that he was supposed to bring one of us over till the day before?"

"Oh?" Cedric chuckled. "That sounds like a certain somebody that I know."

_Aurea. _

The two shared a laugh together, before settling down back to silence as Ephraim stirred at the noise.

_Yep. I was at the Juniper Laboratory in Nuvema Town, placed under the supervision and care of Professor Juniper herself, as well as her father, Cedric Juniper. Reason? I'll keep that to myself. But I spent a good three weeks there in the presence of those two and their whole lab crew. Fun times for the most part. _

_That day there was a field trip from a school in Accumula Town to come and learn and explore about the Juniper lab. School trips to the lab were apparently rather common, even if the lab was in an isolated corner of the region. Even my school took a trip there once or twice. Cheren went, though Spectral and I didn't. We were too young._

_Of course, I didn't know then that it would be my last day at the lab..._

After a few minutes passed, Luca asked, "Could you ask her if I could go outdoors?"

"Hmm?"

"Like, y'know… It's a nice day outside. And me being outside means I'm not in the way of the field trip. That's the only reason she put me in this room in the first place."

"Well…"

Cedric thought it over for a bit. Aurea's orders sounded absolute earlier, and she was the chief authority of him. And yet...the thought of Luca being cooped up indoors all day long made him pity the boy. It felt wrong to deny him the chance to stay upbeat and happy.

"Okay," Cedric sighed. "I'll ask her."

"Really?"

Cedric pulled out his phone in response, spent about a minute typing, and then showed Luca the screen. On it was a simple text that Cedric had sent to Aurea, saying, _"Luca is asking if he can spend the duration of the field trip outside instead of waiting around inside."_

"How's that? Did I miss anything?" Cedric asked.

No response. Luca's gaze was firmly fixed on the phone. At some point, he chuckled a bit, but still didn't say anything.

"Luca?"

"She sent an emote," Luca finally responded. "The surprised Minccino one. And she's still typing back."

"Oh? What did she say?"

"Nothing yet. … Ah." Luca pumped his fists into the air. "Yes!"

Cedric was already smiling. "And?"

"'_Why didn't I think of that? Beautiful day out… Please take him outside. I'll come get him when I'm done._' Word for word."

_Happiest I'd been all day. Happiest I'd be all day._

Cedric turned the phone back towards him, reading over the message for himself and smiling. "Well, there you have it." He looked over to the corner of the room, nodding his head towards the sleeping Bulbasaur. "I know you want to take him everywhere with you, but…do you really want to take Ephraim along? He looks quite comfortable back there."

Luca replied without any hesitation, "Yes please."

"Even if it means waking him up?"

"He's already awake."

"That doesn't mean I'm not sleepy," Ephraim groaned, his eyes still closed and body unmoving. "I want a slow day today. Is that too much?"

Luca walked over to Ephraim and picked him up. "How about you sleep outside with the fresh sunshine instead?"

"Mmm...that does sound nice… But I'm already here...sleepy here..."

"You're coming with. No argument."

"Fiiiiiiiiine…"

Now with Ephraim comfortably in his arms, Luca turned back around to Cedric, still smiling. "We're ready."

"Weeeeee're readyyyyyyyy," Ephraim mimicked, nearly nodding off to sleep again. "Let's...go outside…"

"You two are ready for anything if you have each other." Cedric smiled as he opened the door out of the room. "It's always refreshing to see a strong relationship between Pokemon and owner. It's one of the most rewarding parts about this job, even if we don't focus our studies on it."

"Well, I'll still be here for a week," Luca replied. "Our bond won't be going anywhere."

_Boy was I wrong._

_Cedric, Ephraim and I all left together. We wanted to make our way to the front exit and just head to Route 1 from there, but of course, we also wanted to avoid any and all contact with the touring students. So we decided to take a "back route" through the lab. Just a longer route to the front door, but it essentially guaranteed we'd avoid all the students. _

_Or so we thought._

_As we made our way through the lab, I caught a glimpse of a lone boy—most likely a student—wandering the halls. The way he worriedly looked down every single hallway and moved about in careful and silent steps made me think that he was very lost and trying not to get caught after being separated from the pack. Cedric didn't even notice him at first. By the time I grabbed his attention to spot the kid, he'd already ducked behind a corner in the room ahead, which was the room where Aurea gave the new Pokemon trainers their starter Pokemon. Talk about a detour._

_Cedric seemed far more concerned than I was. I thought that was good. It meant he was taking what I was saying seriously. He trusted what I was saying. At that point in my life, I wanted that. It made it easier for me to talk to others if they took me seriously._

_But I quickly learned that Cedric was not concerned because he thought the kid was lost and alone. I was a sheltered thirteen-year old boy then. Maturer than most kids my age, sure, but also carrying with me one fatal flaw that, on this day, would prove to be my first of many downfalls. One that would be ripped away from me in just a few short months._

_Trust._

Cedric immediately went into action upon hearing Luca's statement about the boy in the hall. He forced Luca to stand behind him as he took aggressive steps towards where Luca claimed he saw the child. When Luca tried to approach behind Cedric, the man stopped him and gave him a clear order in a hushed voice. "Stay right here. Don't move."

"But—"

Cedric hushed him without any hesitation or remorse, before turning his attention back towards the room in front of him. He slowly pulled out his phone and started dialing a number that Luca couldn't make out. And with his finger hovering over the button to send the call, Cedric suddenly leapt into action, making his presence known with a loud step forward and a strong "Excuse me! What are you doing back here!?"

Luca heard another voice after this, though he couldn't make out what they'd said. What he could hear, though, was the sudden scramble of several footsteps, and Cedric giving an even louder "Hey!"

_Everything happened so fast after that… I saw that same kid making a beeline out of the room, running like his life depended on it. He looked rather surprised when he saw me as he turned the corner out of the room, but given my expression of fear and confusion, combined with my hands preoccupied with holding Ephraim, I looked like I was going to do nothing to him. And he was right. I was going to do nothing to him._

_That was until Cedric showed up right behind him, chasing after him and shouting to me, "Stop him!"_

_It all clicked inside my head only after he'd run past me. I suddenly turned around and barely caught a glimpse of him ducking into a random doorway. After that, I wasted no time joining the pursuit, taking off into the room behind the kid, only to end up watching in shock as he seamlessly fit himself into the thin vertical opening of the window. Now, suddenly, he was outside, continuing his running escape. _

_He was gone. That was it. Just as quickly as we'd found him, he'd gotten away. I made my way up to the window and saw him running off to Route 1, his figure slowly getting smaller._

"Where did he go!?" Cedric asked, entering the room in a panic. It didn't take a long survey to see that Luca was the only person in the room. "He came in here, right? Where did he…"

Cedric saw the open window. He saw Luca standing beside it, looking outside. He looked around the empty room again.

"Did he? Motherf—! He got away!"

_I let him get away._

Cedric immediately turned to his phone and put it up to his ear. "He got away," he repeated into the device. "He escaped through a window. Luca and I both saw it. Where's he headed?"

"Route 1," Luca said, still looking out the window. "He's still going."

"He's going towards Route 1," Cedric repeated. "But I don't know if the police will be able to—"

"I'm going after him!" Luca said, wasting no time in making his way through the window just like the boy before him had.

Cedric briefly stopped talking into his phone. "Luca—What!? What are you—"

"I said I'm going after him!" By now, the teen was outside, still holding tightly onto his Bulbasaur. "I'll try and bring him back!"

"Luca wait!"

But it was too late. By the time Cedric had opened his mouth, Luca had already darted off towards Route 1 in pursuit of the kid. "Damn it!" He held his phone up to his ear again. "Luca just climbed out the window and decided to follow the kid. Said he wants to bring him back. He didn't even give me a chance to stop him, and I'm pretty sure he has Ephraim accompanying him. … What, me? No! Even if I could fit myself through that window, I couldn't possibly keep running pace with two sprightful young teenagers in the open plains! Don't pin this on me, Aurea!" Cedric gave a long sigh as he leaned up against the wall to catch his breath. "Oh Luca… Don't do anything reckless..."

––––––––––

_Something I've always taken pride of in myself is my physical well being. It's been a strong trait of mine ever since I was a little kid. I've always wanted to be strong and fast and bulky, and I'm happy to say that am._

_Of course, I'm much more physically capable now than when I was thirteen. I got my job at Floccesy Ranch three years ago. They wanted someone who was good with Pokemon and who was in good physical condition for the position, and well, it's hard to beat me in the "good with Pokemon" department. Working at a farm is rough work, but damn if I don't love it. My body's solid, my stamina is plentiful, and my strength is not to be trifled with. If only my body actually looked the part._

_But, even at a younger age, I still got to enjoy the boons of a consistent workout regime to build my body. My father and I would do a morning jog to and from school together every weekday, and on weekends we would roughhouse in the backyard for an hour. Spectral never joined us. He never found it interesting or fun. But me, I loved it. The passion hasn't died out._

_And it didn't die in me that day._

Screeching to a halt, the thief gave in, doubling over and taking a few heaving breaths of air. The kid behind had been chasing him for almost two miles now. He'd always considered himself a good runner, but weird as his outfit was, whoever was chasing him was clearly no joke in the athletics department.

_And so he changed tracks._

"I've finally got you!" Luca shouted from behind, seizing his opportunity to close the distance between him and the thief. As he got closer and closer, it became more and more apparent that the run was having the same draining effect on Luca.

_If Ephraim wasn't in my hands, I'm pretty sure I'd have keeled over and kneeled to rest._

With heavy pants, Luca continued speaking. "I'm not...gonna let you take...another step… Oh god… You're...done…thief…."

_And of course, his anxiety quickly changed to amusement. _

"Well, you got moxie, kid, I'll give you that."

"Don't tease me," Luca said in one breath, aggressively pointing at the thief. "I made it this far."

"Hey, not teasing, genuinely impressed!" He raised his hands in surrender. "But neither of us can keep running like this. We gotta find another way to settle."

"Another way to… What are you...talking about?" Luca lowered his arm and nodded his head back the way they came. "You...come with me…. You see what's...in my hands, yeah? You don't have a choice."

Ephraim groaned. The long and bumpy run in Luca's grasp had woken him up, but now he was shaken and uncomfortable. "Man...I'm being used as a threat now?"

"Work with me here," Luca muttered through grit teeth.

_I wish I'd never said that._

_Not that it mattered. He came prepared._

"Wow, good thing I picked you up, eh?" The thief looked at the poke-ball in his hand. "I never fancied myself a battler, but I'm running out of options."

Luca's eyes widened and he took a defensive step back. "Oh of course that's what you stole."

The man tapped the ball's button.

_So we both chose the hard way._

As Luca's precious Ephraim was dropped to the ground, the thief's Poke Ball burst open, the light from within forming into a Pokemon that stood right by the thief's side. Though it was barely shorter than Ephraim, just one look at it made the hero and his Bulbasaur gasped in horror.

The round pink nose. The orange and brown body. The curled tail ending in a red ball. The...yawn as if it had just woken up from a nap?

"What's going on?" the Tepig nonchalantly asked, facing the totally wrong direction. When it saw that there was nothing interesting in front of it, he slowly turned himself around to eventually lock eyes with Ephraim, who had lost a good bit of his initial fear at seeing a fire-type. "Oh hey. You don't look like you're from around here."

His gaze eventually made its way up to Luca. "You don't look like you're from around here either."

_I wanted to save him so badly...but there were many times where I wanted to smack that Tepig, too._

"Oh, a Tepig!" the thief said. "Aren't you a cute little porker. That's some luck, getting a fire type to counter grass."

Luca gaped a bit. "You didn't even _know_ what you took?"

"Oh, was I chosen from the lab? That's awesome!" The Tepig started to smile at his new owner. "Thanks man. It's gonna be fun hanging out with you."

"Uh, yeah, sure. We're gonna get along just fine."

_I learned much later that he was planning to sell the Tepig on the black market. Apparently lab Pokemon are worth a fortune there, since they're bred to have great IVs and egg moves._

The Tepig cheered a bit. "Cooool. And who's this guy? Friend?" He gasped excitedly. "First time rival? It's gotta be. You've both got starters. Ooh, but you got the better starter here. Though, is this guy foreign?"

"No," Luca drawled. "I'm from here. In Unova."

"Wherever you're from, I'm sure we can all settle this over a picnic?" The thief tried for a winning smile. "Come now, I have type advantage! We don't want things to get messy, yeah?"

"I made it this far," Luca repeated, unable to hide the snippets of doubt in his voice. "We're...gonna beat you. Even without types."

Ephraim briefly looked back at Luca. "Hey man...are we sure we wanna do this? Cause like, I dunno, he kinda has a good point."

_No, I didn't want to do it. But I felt like I had no choice._

"It's like...one Pokemon," the thief said. "No need to be stingy. Besides, he likes it with me? Right, little guy?"

The Tepig nodded. "I mean, you seem cool so far. The one thing I didn't want was a hyper trainer. You fit so far."

"He STOLE you!" Luca shouted. "You were taken against _everyone's_ will!"

_That attracted attention. Several wild Pokemon that were totally uninterested in two trainers having the beginnings of a rivalry suddenly stopped and began to stare at us both. But not another human anywhere to be seen..._

"Are you jealous?" the Tepig asked, tilting his head a bit. "You seem jealous. Maybe because we have the type advantage for our first battle, huh?"

The thief grinned, showing off his pearly whites. "See, you could separate us, but then who's the villain, hmm?"

"It's still you!" Luca said, clenching his fists. "S-stop talking! You wanted a fight! Ephraim, come on!"

Ephraim sighed again. "Fine...first battle for both of us I guess."

"It's your funeral." The thief shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, Tepig. Hit him with an ember attack."

The Tepig nodded, raising his head and preparing to attack. "You got it, chief…chief uh..." He lowered his head and looked back to the man he was calling his trainer. "You uh...you never gave me your name, man."

"The name's Black," he said. "Chief works too. Fun nickname, I guess. Actually wait, should we be focused on the—"

"Ephraim, tackle!"

"Nothing personal, Tepig!" Ephraim charged forwards at the Tepig, closing the gap between the two Pokemon and ramming his body into the fire type.

_And so it began. My first Pokemon battle._

"Oh shit!" Black cried as the Tepig went tumbling head over heels. "You uh...you okay there?"

The Tepig picked himself off the ground without much trouble. "Yeah I'm okay." He made his way back to Black's side. "Let's make sure you don't lose your first rival battle, yeah? Rumors said that whoever wins the first one is more likely to win all the future ones. We don't want that."

"Definitely not," Black said, wracking his brain to think up moves for the Tepig to use. "Uh….use that tackle move thing...but like, when it's on fire? What's that move called?"

"Flame charge?" the Tepig asked. "Yeah I know that one."

"Flame charge, yeah! Use that then, pal! Take the sprout down!"

"Got it, chief!" The Tepig began to coat itself in fire…

_And I made a startling revelation._

"You...you understand him," Luca said, looking at Black. "How…"

"Hey, I could ask you the same question," Black said. "Whatever helps you understand the Pokemon probably also applies to me!"

"But that's not—"

"Incoming!" The Tepig cut Luca off mid-sentence as he leapt across the grass, ramming into Ephraim with enough force to send the Bulbasaur flying into Luca's arms.

After a successful catch, Luca looked down at Ephraim in horror. "You didn't dodge?" he asked.

"Yep, I'm _totally_ fine, thanks for asking," Ephraim groaned, leaping out of Luca's grasp.

_I think that was the first time Ephraim gave me sass where I felt hurt and not loved._

"That worked pretty well," Black noted, impressed. "Just keep using that move, Tepig!"

The Tepig flashed a happy grin. "Call me Caesar, Chief!" he said as he began to engulf himself in flames again.

_Caesar, I really wish Black didn't steal you._

"Uh...Luca? I can't take another one of those," Ephraim said, looking back in worry.

"Uhh...uhh…"

_It was here where I realized this wasn't playful roughhousing with Dad in the backyard. I was fighting someone. For real. And they wanted to win. And so did I. And when this realization hit me, I broke out into total panic and my thoughts began to fly all over the place. _

_To make matters worse, I still felt extremely worn from the long run. Though I looked fine enough, I felt ready to collapse on the floor from exhaustion at any moment. The newfound anxiety from battle did not help this._

"T-then we just don't get hit, right?" Luca said. "You dodge, we're fine."

"Can I?" Ephraim cried.

Caesar smiled with delight. "Here we go!"

"Yes you can, Ephraim! Move!"

Ephraim leapt for his life over the incoming Tepig, clearing the attack and landing behind him.

Luca pumped a fist into the air. "Now grab him with your vines! Throw him backwards!"

As Caesar skidded to a stop and the flames around him died down, he found himself trapped in a firm grasp by Ephraim's vines. Struggling proved ineffective as he got hoisted up into the air, only to be thrown down to the ground next to Black.

"Crud. You okay, little guy?" Black said, worriedly watching the fallen pig. "We might be a bit outclassed here, huh."

Luca cheered a bit, though it was hard to stay excited with the exhaustion from the running still prominent in his breathing. "That's right! That's what you deserve!"

"Owww…" Caesar picked himself off the ground and shook the dirt off him. "Mean! What did I do to deserve that?"

Luca's attitude suddenly flipped. "Wait what? No, I was talking about Bl—"

"Hey man, you tackled me too," Ephraim said, looking worried. "Was that too hard, though?"

"You tackled me first…" Caesar sighed. "Okay, Black. We're winning this. I'm into this now. Come on!"

_At that point, I facepalmed and lowered my head in defeat. I knew I'd just blown my opportunity to convince Caesar to come back with me peacefully. And Black seemed to catch that, too._

"I'll give you one last chance to back down, kid," Black warned, real sympathy in his tone. "I got type advantage, and Caesar here doesn't want to go back anyway. Really don't want to hurt anyone, so let's just call it a draw."

"I… I…"

_I had nothing. I just felt...tired, pained, and defeated._

As Luca struggled to answer, Ephraim turned towards Luca in fear. "Hey...you okay?"

"Too slow!" Black snapped. "Caesar, blast him with some smoke with your nostrils!"

"One ember, coming up, chief!" Caesar took a deep breath and fired small, burning orbs of fire from his nostrils at Ephraim as his back was turned.

Luca's head rose as Caesar spoke. "Wait, Ephraim, no!"

_Too late. When Ephraim turned around to react, he got an immediate face full of hot embers. He got sent flying into me again, and if I'd reacted faster, maybe I'd have caught him again. Instead, he hit my legs, and the force of the impact caused me to trip and fall forwards. I only barely caught myself before my face hit the ground. And when I tried to shake Ephraim awake..._

Ephraim gave no response outside of a pained moan.

"Word of advice; know when to run," Black said, smiling indulgently. "Now, does this need to escalate to the point where we have to leave you with third degree burns, or do you get the message?"

_At this point, most of our "spectators" left. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw many once interested Pokemon turn away and sigh. Only one or two were still actively watching and listening, and they looked like they could leave at any moment. _

_It...angered me, somehow. Somehow the Pokemon leaving us, combined with Ephraim's quick and untimely KO...made a new feeling well up in me._

"How could you…" Luca slammed a fist into the dirt. "First you _steal_ him...then you _use_ him to hurt others…"

"Jeez, this guy doesn't like you, huh?" Caesar asked, looking at Black. "But we won! Right?"

"Yeah, he's not stupid enough to get fried." Black sneered at Luca. "Are you, kid? Let's scram, Caesar."

"No!" Luca rose from the ground, pointing threateningly at Black. "Criminal! You need to be taught a lesson!"

"How thick is your skull?"

_Surely thicker than yours, Black._

In spite of his confident tone, Black stepped back a little. "Caesar, he so much as twitches, burn him to a crisp."

Luca lowered his arm and clenched a fist. "You little—"

"Don't hurt the Chief!" Caesar shouted, rearing back and preparing to fire off another ember.

Luca immediately recoiled, fear filling his face. "Wait, no!"

_I jumped back, falling to the ground once more, immediately regretting my decision. I looked away. I held my hands out in front of me and everything, preparing for the worst. I imagined maybe I'd end up with some third, maybe second degree burns. I'd be left there on that field in Route 1, wounded until Ephraim woke up or someone passed by, and brought right back to Juniper's lab as a failure. _

_And yet...that never happened. _

_He saved me._

Just as Caesar was about to unleash his attack, he was abruptly knocked to the side, causing the embers to go haywire into the air and miss entirely. As the Tepig forced himself back on his four feet, the same figure that interrupted his attack scampered over to Luca's side, standing in front of the boy and his Bulbasaur.

"Sue me," said a new, determined voice. "I'm not standing around to the side and watching some poor human kid get burnt today."

A small dog with cream and brown fur bore its fangs at Black. "Try it!"

_Maurice._

_He'd been watching from the sidelines since my earlier outburst. Now he was in the fray._

Luca looked down at the Lillipup before him, his face a mixture of confusion and fear. "What are you–"

"Get your head out of the gutter and focus, kid. He's playing you."

"Oh no, I'm terrified of the level two wild puppy that's come to save the day," Black said, rolling his eyes. "Caesar, try not to hurt him too badly."

Maurice the Lillipup scoffed. "Talk if you want. This is the side with a fresh new Pokemon that isn't suffering battle wounds. Meanwhile you..."

As the Lillipup spoke, Caesar struggled to get back to his feet, coughing smoke as he shook his head. "That's cheating…"

"Uh, you okay? How's your health looking?" Black asked the Tepig in concern.

_I looked to Caesar, then to Black, then back to Caesar. That feeling from before returned, even stronger this time._

"You're..._hurting_ him," said Luca.

"You and the dog are cheating," Caesar sighed as he rubbed one of his cheeks. "Two fights...not easy."

"Then uhh….we're out of here," Black decided. "Light up the grass, block the way."

"Aye aye..." Caesar did as Black asked, using ember to set the grass between them ablaze.

"You got spunk!" Black called, scooping up the Tepig and sprinting away. "Maybe we'll meet again! I wouldn't mind taking you on one more time!"

_And just like that...they were going._

Maurice wasted no time at all in hot pursuit, shouting a loud "Hey!" as he took off behind them.

"What? No! You're not going…"

_I reached out a hand and took a step forward. I had every intent to pursue them, despite the fire and fatigue. I'd have run another mile if I had to. Heck, I'd have chased them to Accumula Town. _

_But my body disagreed with me. After just one step, I collapsed completely, falling to all fours with my head hanging above the ground. Soon the air around me got smoky from Caesar's blaze, which combined with my awful panting from the run over, made it nearly impossible for me to breathe at all._

_Somehow in spite of my whole body telling me no, I still tried to reach out towards Black._

"No! W-why…"

At the sound of Luca's now raspy voice, Maurice skid to a stop and turned around, letting out a faint "Oh no." His gaze shifted back to Black, who kept running further and further away with the injured Caesar in his hands.

"That little…"

He spat a curse under his breath and turned back around, running around the fire to Luca's side. "Hey! Kid! Back up, you're breathing in the smoke!"

Luca didn't respond. The fire that Caesar lit was already beginning to die, but that didn't stop the Lillipup's concerns.

"Hey! C'mon! Back your head up! Get off the ground!"

Luca continued to blankly stare forwards. "Ephraim...Aurea...I…"

"I said move!"

_Maurice used force that time. He ran under me and tackled me right in my chest in an attempt to get me away from the dying fire._

_What it ended up doing was knocking the wind out of me, causing me to keel over on my side as my struggle to catch my breath magnified multiple times. The last thing I remember before passing out was Maurice in front of my face saying "Oh damn it!"_


	5. Chapter 4: A New Story

"Is everything all right?"

Cheren's words snapped Luca out of his trance, allowing the trainer to return to the situation in front of him.

There was a battle to be had, and he couldn't back out of this one either.

Maurice the Stoutland stood proud on Cheren's side of the battlefield, all the doubts and fears of fighting Luca erased behind his gaze. When he noticed Luca had returned to his senses, he gave the trainer a slow nod.

"Now's not the time to reminisce," Maurice said. "Reminisce… That might not be the right word."

Alan meanwhile seemed more concerned for Luca, taking the opportunity before the battle had officially begun to look back. "Hey. Dude? You okay?"

"What happened?" Luca asked back.

"I dunno, man. You were talking to, uh, Maurice, and then you kinda zoned out for a few seconds. He didn't say anything weird did he?"

Luca couldn't help but blink a few times at what Alan said. "Only a few seconds," Luca repeated under his breath. "Felt like a lot more than that."

He smiled at Alan. "Alan? No holding back. Not against Maurice. Just make sure you don't hit the kids in the stands and stuff, but otherwise, we're in no holds barred territory."

The Ampharos's response was a happy grin and as close to a fist pump as an Ampharos could perform.

Luca cleared his throat and faced Cheren, killing his smile as he turned his gaze. "I'm fine. And ready."

"Oh, good. It would be a shame if the battle was over before it even began," Cheren chuckled. "As you've requested this to be a gym battle, that means that I must let you attack first, as per league rules." His gaze lowered. "Use that advantage to the fullest."

Luca nodded. "Alan?"

Alan threw his arms into the air with pride. "In it!"

"Then keep it simple. Start up our Alan Special. Thunderbolt!"

"Let's...get...crazyyyyyyy!" Beating his fists together, Alan began to charge up electricity. _Lots_ of electricity. It wasn't long before his whole body was cackling with power, small bolts flying off him uncontrollably as the ground beneath him began to shake a bit.

Maurice's eyes went wide at the display of power. "Ye gods," he muttered, already bracing himself a bit for what was to come. "Is this really the same person…?"

Fears in the stands of Alan having lost all control of his power were averted when Alan held both arms in front of him, instantly channeling the electricity into a single bolt, aimed straight at Maurice.

"Move it!" Cheren shouted, swinging his arm to the side. "We can't get hit by that!"

Without hesitation, Maurice leapt off to the left, his large frame proving no hindrance to his mobility as he dodged the attack in full. He gave a huge sigh of relief when he felt nothing hit him, and even more relieved when he saw Alan simply eyeing him from a distance. It was his turn now.

Cheren surveyed the damage left behind. The ground where Maurice once stood now had several newly dislocated clumps of earth, however many spectators couldn't help but feel like the collateral damage was far less than what they were expecting from an attack that literally shook the ground beneath their very feet during its charge.

"Is he holding back or is he really giving it his all?" Cheren muttered, unsure what to think after that attack. "I lack the time to find out. If I don't move now, he'll move again. Maurice! Use Double Edge!"

"Yessir! Let's move!"

Luca nodded in response. "Alan, Maurice moves fast, okay? Much faster than you do. Don't let him catch you off guard. Thunder Punch, intercept it!"

With a loud roar, Maurice began a mad dash towards Alan, immediately proving Luca's comment about his speed when he covered the entire battlefield in just a couple of bounds. Alan hardly had any time to charge up his power before being forced to throw his punch at the Stoutland out of sheer reaction to his approach.

The two attacks clashed together, with Alan's electrified fist making direct contact with Maurice's head. However, despite the clear hit to his head, the Stoutland showed no signs of pain or backing down. Alan too, was determined to push past Maurice, but was showing many more signs of struggle...

"What are you thinking!?" Cheren asked, pointing at Luca. "Surely you know the power difference here!"

Luca just smiled and shrugged in response. Even as Maurice beat out Alan in the clash and sent the Ampharos reeling into the air, Luca's confident stature stood unwavering.

As Alan hit the ground on his back, Cheren sighed. "What are you thinking!? You're a special attacker! You demonstrated that already! You really expect an Ampharos's punch to beat out the strength of a full Stoutland?"

"No."

Cheren looked away, shaking his head. "You must be quite rusty if you really think— Wait." He looked back to Luca in shock. "No?"

"Hell no. You think I'm insane?" Luca asked as Alan pushed himself off the ground and back onto his feet. "I'm dealing with a gym leader, not a random trainer I chanced upon from Route 19. I don't expect Alan to overpower Maurice in physical strength."

"Then why would you—"

"You're the teacher here. You figure it out."

That bold statement got the students even more riled up as Luca shook his head.

"I'm still in this, Luca," Alan said, briefly looking over towards his trainer.

"Good. Let's try this again now. Alan? Thunder punch."

Alan began to charge up electricity into his fist again, but Cheren simply chuckled in response, bringing himself out of his confused funk. "Again? You lost the clash before handily. Your Pokemon isn't possibly that strong. Maurice! Double edge again!"

Maurice's only response was a fruitless grunt of effort. He tried to lurch his body forwards, only to nearly collapse on the floor. It was evident that Maurice wasn't in pain, and certainly giving his best effort, but something was preventing him from moving as he helplessly stared at Alan preparing his attack.

Only when Cheren noticed the bits of electricity coursing around Maurice's fur did he understand what was wrong. "Paralysis!?"

"Maybe you should've focused more on the status of your own Pokemon rather than the logic behind how I'm choosing to use mine," Luca said, shrugging. "I've got a reason for what I do. Hit 'em!"

On command, Alan swung his fist forwards straight into Maurice's shoulder, sending the Stoutland lightly tumbling back towards Cheren, though the Pokemon was able to catch himself as the effect of the paralysis weakened.

"Maurice!"

"I'm fine! I'm fine. Sheesh…" Maurice spat on the ground beside him. "That's his first hit. Not counting whenever I got paralyzed..."

"You're well, then?" Cheren asked, sounding concerned.

"Fine. More than enough still in me."

Cheren nodded, getting the idea. "Good. Now what's going on over there…"

"He's a tough one. Never gives up easy," Luca said just loudly enough for Alan to hear. "He's one of those last stand types, who always fight back if they've got even the slightest bit of energy. A KO will need to be decisive."

"Hah! You flatter me!" Maurice shouted from across the field. Luca gave a small "tsk" at realizing he'd been overheard, but returned a light grin to the Stoutland all the same.

"So what, thunderbolt till he drops then?" Alan asked back.

"Mmm… Let's go for another one. Thunderbolt!"

Alan began charging up the same wicked power he'd displayed at the start of the match, once again causing light tremors in the ground below as his body coursed with electricity...

Cheren, however, was more prepared this time. "Maurice, stay with me. The longer this battle goes on, the more likely we're gonna get screwed over by that paralysis, so we need to end this soon. Let's take a risk."

"Long as you don't expect me to stand right there and tank a hit like that… Name it."

"You beat his thunder punch. Now beat his thunderbolt. Giga impact. And don't you stop charging till you hit something!"

Maurice turned back towards Cheren in surprise. "You, sir, are now the insane one."

Luca snapped his fingers, unwilling to let the Gym Leader start whatever he was planning. "Go! But keep some charge, got it?"

Alan nodded as he held out his hands like before. "Got it!"

"But I'm dodging that bastard first!" Maurice shouted as he rolled to the side, beating his paralysis out and dodging Alan's thunderbolt entirely.

Cheren gasped. "What are you—"

"And NOW we go for it!"

Cloaking himself in a harsh orange and white light, Maurice gave another roar to top his previous one, before once again charging at Alan from all the way across the battlefield.

Luca merely arched a brow. "Ooh. They want to end this quickly huh? We can oblige." He turned to Alan and calmly uttered, "Alan, thunderbolt again. Don't hold back on this one."

Much to the dismay of those watching, Alan had been given virtually no time to charge up the awesome power that he had put on display in both his previous thunderbolt attempts. With just the pointing forward of his arms, Alan discharged another signature thunderbolt, hitting Maurice square in the face with enough force to halt most of his forward momentum.

But despite Alan's powerful display, Maurice didn't flinch. Step by step he continued to walk forward, his expression just as determined as when he'd begun his rush.

Luca still seemed unfazed. "Alan? Turn up the juice!"

With a small grunt of effort, Alan briefly turned to face Luca. "...this is it, man!"

"...what?"

"This IS max juice! You said don't hold back!"

Maurice continued his forward approach as Alan said this, fighting back against the thunderbolt and beginning to regain his running start. He had less than half a battlefield to cover before he'd crash into Alan again.

And for the first time since the start of the battle, Luca showed fear. "Oh shit."

Before Luca could even think of another command to give to Alan, the Ampharos found himself launched airborne again. All the challenger could do now was watch in sheer horror as his Pokemon helplessly went flying even higher than before, then land harshly on his back outside the battlefield.

As Cheren quietly pumped a fist in the air and Luca loudly shouted Alan's name, Maurice slowly collapsed to his knees as the signs of paralysis began to show themselves on his body again. Coupled from his exhaustion from giga impact, Cheren knew that Maurice wouldn't be moving from that spot for a while, unless he was forced out of it.

Still, Maurice was able to raise his head enough and watch as the dust around Alan's landing spot cleared. "Did...I get him?" he asked quietly.

Alan's surprisingly quick rise to his two legs was a clear "No."

Several people gasped in shock, including Cheren. "What?! Impossible! A strike of that power should've put him out of commission! He should at least be _struggling_! Giga impact, same type, high attack, low defense, no block..."

"It wasn't at full power," Luca responded, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on Alan. "He slowed Maurice down. Even though Maurice built up a good amount of speed afterwards, he already spent a lot of his energy just getting to Alan. Not to mention he had to power through a max power thunderbolt. Surely that damaged him considerably, to the point where he felt weaker when he landed the blow."

He suddenly shifted his face towards Cheren. "You're the Gym Leader. The principal. A teacher. And yet you're not thinking all these things in the heat of the moment. You've gotta be careful, Cheren…" With a snap of his fingers, Luca pointed towards Maurice. "Remember who you're dealing with. Thunder punch. Finish it."

As Maurice continually failed to rise back onto his feet, Alan casually walked over to the struggling Stoutland and calmly coated a hand in electricity, just as he'd done before. The Ampharos reared back just a bit, only to swing forward with his attack…

"Hold it!"

...and stop his fist inches away from the barrier that had suddenly formed around Maurice.

Everyone gasped as Luca chuckled, saying, "I knew it…." He looked up to Cheren, whose face now looked completely full of defeat. "The moment that protect shield goes away, Alan's gonna strike him. And he'll be KOed. And that'll be it. Won't it, Maurice?"

Maurice let out a low grumble before replying, "Ya got me there…"

"Your Pokemon choice was a fair gamble, Cheren. Since I was Maurice's original trainer, you thought I'd be hesitant and remorseful to fight against Maurice. You were right. But. Though you've taught this old dog new tricks...you haven't gotten rid of the old ones. I haven't forgotten about your last stand strategy, Maurice… Clearly neither have you."

"He did this even then?" Cheren asked.

"Oh, definitely," Luca replied, nodding. "If he had the energy for it but felt his strength slipping, he'd always use protect right before an opponent's finishing blow connected… Against physical hits, he could counterattack once the attack rebounded off the shield. Against special attackers, he'd—"

Luca was interrupted mid sentence by the sudden movement of both Pokemon on the battlefield. Maurice had abandoned the use of protect as Luca spoke, hoping that he could sneak in an attack while both trainers were distracted. However, Alan had been diligently watching Maurice, and had never dropped the charge on his thunder punch attack. As soon as Maurice dropped the protect barrier, Alan swung his fist down.

Maurice didn't get back up.

Luca shrugged. "Well. There it is. Knockout."

"Knockout… Knockout indeed." Cheren, well composed, held out Maurice's Poke Ball and withdrew his Pokemon back inside of it. He then lowered his head a bit, first looking at the Poke Ball, then simply looking down with a brief sigh, before giving Luca a firm look. "Exemplary. Your natural talent for Pokemon battling shows."

"Oh, come on," Luca said, sighing in an attempt to hold back laughter at Cheren's comment. "I won't deny that I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good."

"You've raised your Pokemon with great care and trained them to be extremely powerful. Your mental state is rigid and cocky on the outside, but always thinking on the inside. The level of communication and understanding between you and your Pokemon is unparalleled..."

Luca held up his hands in protest. "W-wait, come on, that's cheating, we both know I can—"

"And as a result, the amount of trust between you and Alan is far greater than even the trust Maurice and I have in each other. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the same held true for the rest of your Pokemon."

Cheren reached into his pocket, pulling out a small badge. He examined the item for a bit, before walking to the center of the battlefield and holding it out towards Luca. "Before I give you this which you have earned, Luca, I want one final thing from you."

Luca nodded, though looked a bit upset. "The badge isn't in my greatest interest, but…name your price."

"Give all of us watching a lesson," Cheren said. "A lesson from you. Of you. How you think. How you battle. What is it that made you rise above all the other good trainers and become someone truly worth watching?"

"What is a Pokemon battle?" Luca asked, not wasting a single moment. He clapped his hands twice, beckoning Alan to stand at his side. "Why even choose to battle in the first place? Why do your Pokemon battle for you? These questions…I think many trainers go their entire lives and never even consider these things. Even at a highly professional level, I feel as though trainers don't know what significance these questions hold.

"People will always say that one of the most important things a strong trainer can have is trust between them and their Pokemon. I completely agree. It is one of the most important things a strong trainer can have. It builds a one of a kind strength between trainer and Pokemon. But anyone can build a strong, trusting relationship with a Pokemon. Battler or not. Trainer or not. That's why I think that trust is merely second to this in the realm of Pokemon battles.

"So, I repeat. What is a Pokemon battle? Why do we battle at all? Why do your Pokemon battle for you? Ask yourselves these questions. Find the answers. Let yourself understand the very fundamentals of battle. I could say them, but the answers will have a much greater impact on your and your performance if you were to discover them on your own. The questions are unusual, and perhaps unheard of. But I firmly believe that the answers to those questions is what transformed me from just some guy with Pokemon into the trainer that you just saw."

The whole outdoors had devolved into silent whispers which Luca couldn't decipher, complete with Cheren giving Luca a very blank yet surprised look.

It wasn't hard to read the atmosphere after that. The audience had devolved into infrequent quiet whispers that Luca couldn't decipher. Cheren's face looked a perfect cross between uncaring blankness and complete bewilderment. Even Elliot seemed to have a look of subtle intrigue as his son stood there, carefully looking around the outdoor space.

Luca chuckled a bit, turning around. "Sorry for turning the lesson philosophical. But there's a lot more to Pokemon battling than just strength, strategy, and trust. Wanted to make sure that got across." With a brief wave, Luca and Alan began to walk back towards the school. "If you want us, you know where to find us. Questions welcome."

"Luca!"

Luca swerved around at the sound of his name. Next thing he knew, he was leaning back a bit, hand in front of his face, holding something that wasn't in his hands before. Opening his hand revealed the gym badge Cheren had held out earlier. A simple purple rectangle with a couple of thin stripes, all encased in gold, meant to represent the spine of a library book.

"I don't care what you say about not wanting it," Cheren said. "You challenged me. You won. You granted my extra request. League rules dictate it's yours, and so do mine. So you earned it."

After about a minute of quietly examining the badge, Luca simply pocketed the item and continued walking away in a nonchalant fashion without saying a word. Alan waddled behind him with a small wave and smiled to all the audience, before both walked into the school building and disappeared into the hallways.

The moment Luca and Alan were out of sight, the students began clamoring loudly, only to be immediately silenced by Cheren when he raised a single finger. "Just because he's left does not give you all permission to start talking!" He cleared his throat and straightened his collar. "The presentation is over. Please return to your classes. You are free to go and talk to Luca if you are on a break and he is willing to talk to you. Do not overwhelm him!"

––––––––––

"So, Mr. '_What is a Pokemon battle?_'"

"Dad…"

"Aww, come on, Luca. You don't even know what I was going to say."

"I… Ugh." Luca sighed as his father gave him a strong nudge to the shoulder.

"Your dad wins this one."

After winning the battle against Cheren in front of the entire school, Luca was understandably flooded with students coming to the Pokemon House and asking him all sorts of questions about his adventures as a trainer, how he'd become such a talented trainer, how he'd trained Alan… It didn't seem to matter what time of day it was, there always seemed to be at least three students eagerly awaiting to talk to him.

Luckily, Elliot was more than willing to cover for all of Luca's duties for the day while he answered the onslaught of questions. After briefly returning home to drop off Ephraim, Luca's father returned to the Pokemon House and teamed up with Peter to do anything and everything that was required of Luca for the day, allowing the new local celebrity to talk to his new fans uninterrupted.

Now with the work day over, father and son (and Alan) had started the walk home, where Elliot simply couldn't help but start poking fun at Luca's antics earlier in the day.

And it had Luca a bit peeved. "So? Out with it then. What were you gonna say?"

"I was going to say I'm impressed. I don't get to hear or see that side of you often."

"What side of me? The trainer side?"

"The battler with a mask of confidence so perfectly fit that it would fool even a champion."

Those words seemed to put Luca on edge as he cautiously looked at his father, but Elliot just had the same bright smile he always had when he was with his kids.

"You did a good job!"

"He wasn't expecting it," Luca sighed. "He thought I'd be too rusty or too distracted to give it my all. He wasn't going all in. I could tell."

"And you were?"

"Of course. He told me he wanted a good demonstration… I'm naturally flashy and so is Alan… We both do a great job at keeping up the...persona…"

"So it _is_ fake," Elliot said, sounding proud of his successful call.

Luca chuckled a bit. "I don't think I need to explain to _you_ the utility of a poker face—much less one of stone cold confidence—in an environment like that."

"Touché!" Elliot laughed back. "It seems to serve you well. Your experience really showed."

Luca awkwardly looked away. "Uh… Thanks."

The two went on walking for a while without saying anything, quietly taking in their surroundings together as Alan meekly trailed behind them both. As they reached the beginnings of their home neighborhood, Elliot gave a happy sigh.

"That's the first time I've ever seen you do that in person, you know," Elliot said. "Battling. With Pokemon. As a trainer."

"Wait really?"

"Mhm. The only other time I've seen it was on TV when you were in the Johto national. That was a treat to watch."

Luca now looked at his father in confusion. "You _liked_ watching me?"

"Oh well of course!" Elliot said, not even taking a moment to think. "You looked so happy and passionate about it. Even when you lost. Broke my heart to hear that you were giving it up. I thought you'd keep at it."

Luca slowed his walk considerably as he tried to process his father's words. "Wait wait wait. Hoooooold on. You got sad...when you heard that your own son...was _giving up_ being a Pokemon trainer?"

"Yep."

"Seriously?"

"Very serious."

Elliot's tone didn't seem that serious. Luca's did. "Ok, _please_ tell me you're just drawing out a joke. You're half the reason I gave it up! You should know this!"

That seemed to catch Elliot off guard briefly. "I am? Well… Okay, I am. That doesn't mean I'm not sad to see it go away."

"Why?"

"I already told you why just a minute ago. It made you happy. It gave you something to be passionate about. And if I'm being completely honest… I think it suits you strongly."

"I…" Luca looked completely bewildered now. He picked up his walking pace and caught up with his father. "We're definitely talking about this when we get home. I've never heard you say that."

"You never let me say it," Elliot sighed. "You always shut me and your brother up the moment we start talking about your life as a trainer." With a small laugh, Elliot managed to restore his bright mood. "I say if we're going to talk about it, we should keep talking about it now, before you get to claim house law on whatever you want. Or before I can! Ha!"

Luca sighed a bit. "I mean… In that case…"

"You'll keep going and enter the tournament?"

"Ok, no. Now you're the one interrupting me without knowing what I was going to say," Luca laughed. "I'm not going to do the tournament. I'm really not interested... "

"Why's that? You're still extremely talented, and you proved that today."

"The talent hasn't gone anywhere, sure, but the passion is gone. I don't like...want to battle anymore. I got my fill of it already. Two whole regions. Sixteen...seventeen badges. One national. Top 16 there."

"But why did you stop after that? Not even two weeks after your return from Johto, you were looking for jobs. You looked completely happy after your loss in the Johto national. What happened between then and your return home?"

Luca looked away. "I… I don't—"

"He and Lux got into an argument on the boat back home," Alan said from behind the two.

Luca swerved around with a shocked gasp. "Alan!"

Alan flinched a bit in response, throwing his arms up defensively, but managed to stand his ground enough to keep talking. "She was upset at her placing in the tournament. She said that Luca being able to understand Pokemon was cheating… That he wouldn't have gotten as far if not for it. It went on for a while. I didn't hear the whole thing, but all of us heard the start of it."

"Aww…" Elliot gave his now defeated-looking son a caring look. "Is that all that happened?"

Alan lowered his head a bit. "I figured… Since we're not at home…"

"You didn't break any rules, Alan," Elliot affirmed. "Thanks for telling me."

Alan weakly nodded as Luca finally spoke. "I was already feeling doubts the whole time… That argument with her just brought them to the surface."

Elliot nodded. "And those thoughts originated because of me, right? Because I always told you and your brother that I hated Pokemon battling as a competitive sport..."

"I never wanted to do it if it made you so passionately angry," Luca sighed.

"I'll be honest. Drilling that into your minds is one of the biggest regrets of mine raising you."

"What?"

"And I'm certain that problem would've never arisen if your mother…"

Luca's tone seemed to change rather suddenly from defeated to worrisome. "Dad? You're doing it."

"Eh?" Elliot stopped in place and blinked a few times, then proceeded to lightly flick himself in the cheek. "Shit… There I go again. Sorry, Luca."

"You're good."

Elliot cleared his throat and resumed walking. "Everything I said earlier about my thoughts on your...career as a trainer? I meant it. I think it suits you, and you're clearly very very good at it. I think it made you very happy. It broke my heart to hear you stop. It breaks my heart even now to hear that you're not going to participate in that tournament."

"I wouldn't mind doing that," Alan chimed in. Following it was a barely audible "Just saying…."

"Sorry, Dad… The passion really is dead. It's been too long… Today didn't do anything to rekindle it."

"I see," Elliot sighed. "And that can't be helped, I imagine."

"If not even a national tournament in my home region can rekindle that fire, I don't think anything can at all. But…" Luca smiled for the first time in a few minutes. "That is pretty reassuring. That you didn't mind it all. I mean… I'm sure you had some conflicting thoughts but… I'm just happy to know that I wasn't making you seethe with rage as I went around places as a trainer and doing Pokemon battles and like...actually enjoying them. I thought this whole time that you just weren't showing your anger."

"Well, my thoughts on them have changed. Because of you."

"Really?"

"I still don't like them," Elliot prefaced. "Not as a sport, anyway. But… Hearing what little stories you told of the friends you made throughout your travels, whether human or Pokemon, as well as seeing how happy it made you… It made me rethink it all. I came to the conclusion that it's not all bad. It just takes the right person to make it good."

As the two turned and stopped in front of their house, Elliot gave Luca a long and gentle pet on the head.

"You make it good, Mr. What is a Pokemon Battle. Better than good. Thanks for opening up a bit with your father. Even if you needed a bit of a nudge from a friend."

The two men took a brief look at Alan, who was still trailing behind the two men about a foot away, looking rather scatterbrained. Wherever his focus was, it definitely wasn't on what was directly in front of him, causing the Ampharos to clumsily walk directly into Elliot's side.

"A-ah! Sorry…"

Elliot merely laughed, giving Alan a strong, friendly smack on his back. As Luca went up to the front door to enter the code and let them all inside, Elliot took full hold of Alan's attention and pointed out to the horizons of the visible neighborhood. "Thinking of taking a walk out here on your own finally? I know you're interested in studying the landscapes here!"

"M-maybe… Maybe with Luca."

"Aww. You gotta take some initiative, man! Leave the house on your own! That front door is always open to ya. You know the code. Maybe take a walk while Luca's out at work one day! Never know what you'll find out there that you'll like."

"Hey, you two!" Luca shouted from the front door. "C'mon! Can't leave this door open forever."

Alan sighed. "Maybe, Elliot… Thanks."

As Luca signalled the two over, Alan was the first to make his way over to the front door, cutting directly over the lawn to get inside without much care. Elliot just shook his head with a smile, taking the longer route over the stone walkway up to the door.

Only, when Elliot got to the door, things looked...amiss. Alan and Luca were both curiously looking down the hall from the doorway, neither of them moving.

At the end of the hallway was Spectral, hair completely disheveled, clothing full of wrinkles, and the man himself barely balancing on two legs. When he saw everyone at the entrance, he gasped. "It is them!" he shouted at someone in the house. "They're all back!"

Luca was the first to comment of the crew returning home. "Spectral? You just wake up from a nap?"

"I did," Spectral said, the tone of his voice matching Luca's claim.

"Then what's the rush?" Luca asked.

As Luca asked this, a Tranquill showed up in the hallway, immediately making his way onto Spectral's shoulder. It had a letter in its beak, which it perfectly dropped into Spectral's open hand.

"Luca," the Tranquill started, sounding even more tired than Spectral. "Luca...you've got mail."

Luca looked confused. "O...kay… Thanks for the mail, Jean, but why is this such a big de—"

Spectral turned the letter around, revealing a large and ornate seal stamped on the letter's back. Luca didn't recognize it at all, but he didn't need to.

"You've got mail," Jean the Tranquill repeated. "Mail from the Champion."

As Elliot closed the door behind them all and Spectral delivered the letter into his brother's hands, the only response Luca could garner was "Oh fuck."

He wasted no time opening the letter. The seal tore with remarkable ease, and the empty envelope fell to the floor the moment Luca's fingers were safely secured on the letter itself. He started reading aloud.

"'_The contents of this letter are for the eyes of—_' Ugh…"

"What is it?" Elliot asked.

"They want its contents private," Luca said whilst rolling his eyes. "Of course… I'll just skim it…"

Luca's eyes began to dart around the paper, but it wasn't long before his reading speed began to visibly slow down. Not long after Luca started reading every word, his eyes went wide.

Spectral was the fastest to call it out. "Luca? That look in your eye wasn't there before. What's—"

Luca held out a hand over Spectral's mouth before he could finish, keeping it there as he slowly walked down the hall further into the house. His gaze never left the letter.

"I need a minute," he finally said, removing his hand from Spectral and slowly walking further away down another hallway. Elliot and Alan turned the corner to see where Luca was going, only to see the man enter his room and close the door behind him without another word.

––––––––––

_The contents of this letter are for the eyes of Luca Mararcich only. _

_If anyone that is not Luca Mararcich should read beyond this point, or the contents of this letter below this line are revealed to others in any fashion, the deal is considered rejected and the offer considered void._

_Once the contents of this letter are read, this letter and all its contents should be burned immediately, or permanently destroyed through some other means._

_Replies will not be accepted or read._

_You have been warned._

_Luca Mararcich,_

_This is your Champion. _

_I will not start this letter with pleasantries, asking you how you are doing, or how your life has been, or what your current state of affairs is. I come to you with an offer._

_I am hosting a tournament in three months. If you wish for more details, look them up online. Under the assumption that this letter was delivered on the day which I requested, my announcement on the matter was yesterday. Content on the matter should be fresh._

_Be there._

_Be there and participate. _

_Be there, and participate with all your splendor and might. With all your skill and ability._

_Be there and do not hold back._

_I have seen what you are capable of. I will know if what you provide is your best, or if it is a mere fraction of it._

_And, if you should violate any of these terms…_

_In my hands at this very moment, I am holding a file. A file that has your name on it. It is a file about you, Luca Mararcich. A file about who you are, and what you have done in your past. I have taken the liberty of reading this file, cover to cover, several times over._

_Truly fascinating stuff._

_Testimony from those directly affiliated with the events of five years ago. Research from our esteemed Professor Aurea Juniper. Records from the International Police._

_I've read it all. _

_I know it all._

_It would take less than ten words from me to get these files into the hands of the police. It would take even less to get these files into the hands of the public._

_Once the information leaves my hands, it is none of my concern._

_Be there, Luca Mararcich. Give me your best. Give the world your best._

_Give me anything else, and I give the world your worst._

_I'll be waiting._

_Signed,_

_Your Champion._


	6. Chapter 5: Pressured

_I consider myself to be a resilient person. Resilient in the sense that I can take a beating and still be standing on two legs. _

_I've worked on a farm for three years, doing work from sunrise till sunset in the summer heat and the winter snow. Yeah we've got work there in the winter. Sure it's only weekends, but if anything's toughened up my body for taking a couple dozen hits with ease, it's that._

_Farmwork doesn't prepare you for being shot in the chest by a letter._

_A fucking letter._

_A piece of paper. With ink on it._

_Words._

_Just words._

_And now I'm alone in my room, looking over this thing over and over for hours without end and just wondering…_

_Has it seriously come to this point?_

_Is this really my life now?_

_Laying in bed, tired, anxious, on the verge of tears? _

_Silently listening to the concerned shouting from my father as he carefully instructs my brother to not disturb me this late at night?_

_Waiting for the allure of sleep like never before, praying for it to consume my being so that I don't have to think about what happens next?_

_What happens next…_

_...What happened next?_

––––––––––

When Luca awoke, it was with a sudden and quiet gasp. His body shot to an upright sitting position and his grasp on the blankets surrounding him tightening.

Blankets?

Ah… Blankets. Familiar blankets. Familiar scenery. A blue room with painfully cheap furnishings and decor. The plain plastic table. The old wood chair with the old man snoozing away on it. The small white carpet and windows that had a complete lack of anything to stop light. B+ for effort. Luca was at the lab. And that put him at ease.

_I thought it was all a dream at first. Didn't help that when I looked out the window all I saw was the midnight sky. I was right ready to just go back to sleep and brush it all off...probably mention it to Cedric or Aurea the next morning._

_That's when I realized Cedric was there in the room with me._

Luca had to double take when he saw Cedric sitting in the old wood chair that would usually serve as Ephraim's bed. The man was completely asleep, his head leaned against his arm, which in turn was supported by the table.

Where was Ephraim if Cedric was in his normal spot? On the table, also peacefully snoozing away. That briefly put Luca at ease.

Then he noticed the bandages on the Bulbasaur.

They weren't several, but they were noticeable. His forehead, his sides, his back legs…

...and that's when Luca saw the Lillipup sleeping next to Ephraim.

Luca gave another small gasp, though kept it muted.

_That's when I realized I didn't dream the previous afternoon. Was it even the previous afternoon? I still dunno to this day._

_Point was, that fight happened. Ephraim's bandages were proof of it. Maurice on the table was proof of it. I was still wearing all my clothes except for my shoes, which were at my bedside. Cedric was definitely in my room because he was concerned for me, though I don't think I realized that back then._

_With that knowledge though, I suddenly felt wide awake and no longer wanted to go back to sleep. _

Luca slowly removed the covers atop him and quietly slipped off the bed. He recoiled a bit at the cold tile floor against his bare feet, but managed to keep himself making such little noise that he didn't even hear himself.

_The last thing I wanted was to wake up Cedric or the Pokemon. God, what a scene that'd cause… I didn't need a bunch of people at midnight expressing extreme concern over how I got KOed and how Ephraim got hurt and why Maurice was there. That wasn't what I wanted._

_Then again...I didn't know what I wanted at that point either. Just...not to sleep. What could I do instead? There wasn't exactly anything to do in the room other than wake up all the others, and I'd already established that was a big fat nope. _

_So with nothing to do in that room...I left it. _

_And the moment I closed the door to that room and took a step into the main hallway of the lab, I immediately heard voices._

At the sound of the sudden voices, Luca jumped a bit in shock, barely remembering in time to stay quiet and muffle his noise. His first reaction after touching ground again was to see if the voices were from his room.

Putting his ear up against the door he'd just left made him hear nothing but the snoring of Cedric and the sound of the voices he was hearing grow slightly more distant.

Curious and with nothing else to do, Luca decided to find the source of the talking. He walked down the hall for a few paces, before realizing the voices were still getting further away as he did, prompting a full 180 turn as he started to walk the other direction.

This new direction proved fruitful. The voices were not only getting closer with every step, but Luca was starting to see shadows moving in a room in the distance.

_I wanted to peek inside and see who was in there, but the moment I thought to do this, I saw the back of a brown trench coat getting closer. Fight or flight took over there, and I immediately decided to retreat to just leaning up against the wall next to the doorway. I didn't want to be caught. I wanted to eavesdrop. Why? I honestly couldn't say. I just...did._

_One thing was for sure, though. A trench coat wasn't a lab coat. That wasn't one of the scientists from the lab. That was a stranger. _

"I'm simply saying that I've been burned by terrorist groups before. Are you sure there isn't an evil psychic clone hiding in a cave somewhere?"

_That was the first voice. Male. Middle aged and mid-ranged. Firm and mature, yet it failed to hide a small sense of desperation. It was a voice I'd never heard before, further cementing my thought that this was a stranger._

"Evil psychic in a—? What in the world are you talking about?"

_That was the second, much more familiar voice. The mid-toned female voice with a lot of caring and a sense of sass was Aurea Juniper's. I could recognize it anywhere, even today._

"It's a long story. I may be paranoid, but it's definitely not unfounded. As I was saying, I'm going to conduct investigations in Chargestone, Twist Mountain-oh, and Relic Passage for sure. That place has plot relevance written all over it."

"Plot relevance?" Aurea groaned. "Foreigners, I swear…"

_I don't really have a problem with foreigners, but apparently the rest of the world sees us as really really unorthodox._

"What do you need me for? Why are you telling me this? Do you want me to assist your investigation?" Aurea asked.

"I would, actually. Any support you could give. You and your father are experts in the field of Pokemon study, yes? As far as I'm concerned, since Plasma's goal seemed to focus on the relationship between trainers and Pokemon, you're an authority on the subject."

Aurea's response was quick and firm. "I fail to see how an investigation on a group of people that are not scientifically credible is going to benefit me in any fashion when we already have several productive research projects ongoing here right now."

_I'd seen Aurea have this sort of strong, authoritative tone of voice before, but never with a visitor. It scared me a bit._

"I'm only speaking for your own region's interests, Professor. Plasma's a suspicious group. Wouldn't it be best to at least try and understand their motives? At the very least, meet with their ringleaders."

"Why does it have to be me?" Aurea asked, sounding a bit desperate. "Couldn't you just get the Champion to do it? Surely they would listen to the Champion more than they would listen to me. I'm certain the Champion would listen to a request from the International Police."

_The words "International Police" gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach. I'd never even heard of the International Police before. Normal police scared me enough. International police..._

"Ah, yes, well." The man cleared his throat. "I'm a bit worried that going to someone, shall we say, higher up, might expose the nastier side of my little investigation."

"Nastier side of your…" Aurea paused for a moment, then let out a long, depressed sigh. "Great… You want to involve me in something shifty…"

"I assure you, Aurea—"

"We are _not_ on a first name basis," Aurea snapped.

The man cleared his throat after the interruption. "Professor. I assure you I have Unova's best intentions at heart. Best case scenario, there's nothing to worry about, and we can part ways without any major infractions. Worst case scenario, well...it worked out in the end for Kanto."

_At the time, I only knew three things about Kanto. Where it is on a map, their starter Pokemon, and the man known as Professor Oak. Nowadays, my knowledge of the region isn't much better, but I do know a bit more. _

Luca heard the sound of someone's fist hitting a table, followed by aggressive sounding footsteps. "Nothing to worry about? You don't even know for sure if this hunch of yours is right. What happens then? What happens if this happens to be a totally innocent group of people that I helped you shut down for shifty reasons? I could lose my job! Do you want to be responsible for that?"

Somehow the man managed to sound calm in spite of all that. "I promise that if Plasma is as innocent as it claims, I have no plans to interfere with it. I simply wish to be sure of that. In fact, I came to you in hopes that any potential dealings with Plasma are handled in a far more legal manner than what I might need to resort to to get the full picture."

Aurea sighed again. "Somehow I'm not surprised that the International Policeman wants to do things in a very potentially not-so-legal manner…"

_I had to resist the urge to laugh at that. _

"Please just consider my offer. I could be wrong and Plasma could be as innocent as you say. I just think we should be safe rather than sorry."

There was a bit of a silence between the two for a moment. Luca heard footsteps, likely Aurea, pacing around the room. Eventually, she stopped and let out a groan. "Why am I even considering this… It's late. I'll sleep on it. Okay? Is that good enough for you?"

In the brief silence that followed, Luca assumed that the man gave an affirmative nod.

"Good. You can come back to me in the morning. If you could come with me this way—"

"Actually, can I ask you one last thing?" The man seemed to be moving now, his footsteps carrying a lot more heft to them than Aurea's. "The boy I found unconscious. Is he going to be all right?"

_I think my heart sank to the level of my already sinking stomach when I heard this. _

_I hadn't even considered how we'd all returned to the lab. I didn't even think of what had happened after I passed out. All those thoughts hit me like a truck._

"I'm just waiting for him to wake up. He didn't seem hurt, but you don't just pass out for no reason in the middle of Route 1. Plus the Bulbasaur was wounded… I know I asked already, but, you're certain you saw nothing happen?"

"Nothing at all; I just found him lying in an open field with his Pokemon. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was only sleeping…"

_At that moment, I realized that I also didn't feel strained in any way. There was no pain in my chest, no aches, no cramps, no shortness of breath...all of it was gone. Like it was never there in the first place. The thought briefly terrified me, but I had no time to sit on those feelings as Aurea continued._

"Right… I'll talk to him in the morning. Whatever happened, he probably needs rest."

"This boy, er, is he prone to accidents like this a lot? Not to judge, but he dresses very unusually, and the wild Pokemon seemed very comfortable in his presence."

_Of course he commented on the outfit… If I haven't changed it in over five years, you can't expect me to start now._

"In my experience he hasn't been very accident prone. But he is capable of understanding Pokemon speech. Wild Pokemon tend to take a liking to him as a result."

_If my heart or stomach could have fallen further, they would have here. _

_When we were much younger, my brother and I never thought much about the fact that we could understand Pokemon. Discovering that people couldn't understand Pokemon came as quite a shock to us. It made us unique._

_That trait single handedly determined our position in the social hierarchy of students in our grade._

_But that trait didn't treat us equally._

_That Aspertia school is big. It has two or three classes of students per grade level. Spectral and I were put into different classes during all but two years of our stay there._

_Spectral, with his natural charisma and extroverted personality managed to get the whole class on his side. He was already destined to be one of the popular kids. That trait just cemented it for all the following years. He had something cool and unique that no one else had._

_No one else but me, of course. And my story was much different. I was much more reserved and rarely ever talked to others unless talked to first. I'd stammer if called on, was a nervous wreck in group activities, and didn't get the best grades. I'd spend most of my lunch periods in the Pokemon House, sharing my food and time with the Pokemon there. It was the only place I was actually social. _

_But even that was used against me. Halfway through our first year of school, one kid started the rumor that the reason I never talked to other people was because I'd rather spend all my time talking to the Pokemon and making friends with them. _

_That cemented my status as the class freak. _

_In the years that Spectral and I were in the same class, I was certainly viewed much better than during our separate years. I was still in my brother's shadow, but he tried his very best to get me out of it. He'd get me involved in most things he was doing, let me be a part of his friends circle, and vouched for me with the kids who had the old perception of me. Those two years were my favorite years in school._

_My niche wasn't just all bad, too. Anytime there was a group project to do with Pokemon studies, I would be fought over who got to pair with me. A few kids from the Trainer School actively sought me out to help them choose partner Pokemon from the Pokemon House, or to help figure out problems their Pokemon might be having. I was definitely seen more as the "Pokemon Guy" than Spectral was, and those moments made me feel great about myself._

_But the mental damage had already been dealt._

_I always tried to hide that trait of mine after that terrible rumor started. I never liked bringing it up or talking about it. I'd deny it to anyone who asked and wasn't sure. I'd play off talking to Pokemon as just guessing their words. To those who legitimately knew or needed the skill, there was no point in hiding it. To those who didn't need to know...I never told._

_Nowadays, that thought hardly bothers me anymore. I'm not uncomfortable disclosing that I'm able to understand Pokemon. I've learned that it's very positively received outside of school._

_But when I was in Aurea's lab, I'd only recently graduated middle school. Spectral and I didn't share our last year of school together in the same class._

_Those thoughts were still extremely fresh in my mind._

_And they drowned out the next few lines until the sound of my name snapped me back to the present._

"His name is Luca," Aurea said. "He's a sweet boy, but...emotional at times."

"If at all possible, I'd like to speak with him as well. Call it another hunch, but—"

"I'm not hearing another hunch," Aurea snapped. "If it doesn't involve me then leave me out of it. One is enough for me."

The man laughed a bit. "Fair enough. I'll make sure it stays between me and the kid."

_I was too depressed with hearing Aurea talk about me being able to talk to Pokemon to have any strong thoughts about this man's "hunch" about me._

"Just be careful what you say to him. He's my responsibility and I don't want to hear him complaining to me about you."

Luca heard more footsteps from Aurea, seemingly headed in the direction away from him.

"If you're planning on staying the night, then come this way," she said. "I'll take you to your room."

"Thank you," the man replied.

And with the sound of the voices gone and the footsteps walking away, Luca knew there would be nothing more to listen to.

––––––––––

_After that conversation, I decided my late-night escapade would come to a close as quickly as it had started. I slipped back into my room as quietly as I left and tucked myself back into bed. I realized after returning to the room that Cedric had actually left the light on, so I took the liberty of turning it off for all of us before heading back to sleep._

_Even with all the negative thoughts surrounding some of Aurea's last words though, I was able to get a great night's sleep. I was out in just a few minutes and slept extremely soundly._

_Waking up in the morning proper, I feared that I might have slept in a bit, so I tried to get myself up and out of bed as quickly and efficiently as possible._

_But the moment I got out of bed..._

"Feeling okay? You were out like a light when I found you."

_I think I literally jumped in fear at that voice. _

"Bah! Who are…you...found me?"

_Once I touched the ground again, I backed up against the wall as much as possible and firmly stayed there._

_My thoughts were all over the place. I couldn't even speak right._

_I felt like I'd been snuck up on and I was about to be attacked at any moment. _

_But I also felt like if I was going to be attacked, it would have already happened._

Sitting in the very chair that Cedric had been sleeping in the night prior was a middle aged man in a brown trench coat; it looked identical to the one Luca caught a glimpse of last night. Though his look was stern at first, it loosened to a genuine smile as he spoke again.

"I did! My name is Looker, and I'm an officer of the International Police. It's a pleasure to meet you."

_The International Police part did not help at all, but it did confirm my immediate suspicions. This was the same man that talked to Aurea last night._

_As it was my first time ever meeting with any kind of law enforcement, my mind kept drifting to one spot. I had to get the question off my mind._

"International Police? Did I do something wrong?"

Looker shook his head, keeping the nice smile. "Not at all. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time when I found you. I would like to ask you a few questions, however."

_Every time it felt like I might be able to calm down because of the nice man with a nice smile who wasn't making any sort of sudden movements, I got thrown right back into "extremely terrified and fearing for my life" mode by something he said._

"Questions? What...kind of questions?"

"Well, it is a bit odd that a very healthy and spry young man was found unconscious with seemingly no injuries or ailments. I'm mostly just asking out of concern and curiosity."

_At this exact moment, I was so terrified of this man that I wanted to do nothing but tell him the truth and pray that his judgement on me was not harsh._

"Oh. Sorry…" Luca eased up and pulled himself off of the wall. "I ran all the way out to Route 1. Non-stop. I was exhausted… Then I got into a Pokemon battle and after a while I just passed out because I was so tired."

"And you ran all the way out to Route 1 because?"

_He never asked me for a Trainer Card or license or anything. I didn't even have one back then. That alone was a burden on my shoulders, though I was still fearful that he could pull that question at any moment._

"There was a thief. Someone stole a Pokemon from the lab and...I wanted to get it back."

Luca snuck a glance at the table behind Looker, attempting to see if Ephraim and the Lillipup were ok. Much to his dismay however, neither Pokemon were there, nor were they anywhere to be seen in the rest of the room.

_Probably taken by Cedric when he swapped with Looker. I bet he wanted to check up on Ephraim._

"A thief?" Looker leaned in a bit, his smile slightly fading and becoming more thoughtful. "What did he look like? Did you happen to catch his name?"

_Unfortunately for me, the day before was still a bit hazy after the sudden passing out. _

"Uh… His name was Black, he said, and... What did he look like… Um… Ugh. I didn't really pay attention…"

_I could barely remember his name, and I could hardly remember his appearance at all. I just remembered dark clothing, but I didn't think Looker would have wanted a fact as pointless as that._

_I know today that he would've wanted that._

"Black… and what exactly did he steal?"

"A Pokemon… A Tepig… Caesar."

"A thief named Black who stole a Tepig…"

Looker went silent for a moment, his expression fully shifted to the thoughtful stance, even going so far as to close his eyes for a while. After a while, a new smile formed on his lips. One of wry confidence.

"Well, if we want him behind bars, I'll need your help, Luca. Your testimony will be of prime importance."

_Disbelief was so busy trying to win the massive war of emotions in my head that I didn't even get to think or ask about how he knew my name._

"You need my help for that?"

Looker leaned in a bit, his smile fading again. "Well, as far as I know, you were the only witness. Are you sure you can't remember anything distinctive about his person?"

Luca lowered his head a bit, looking a bit dispirited. "You… You want to capture him, right? Arrest him? Get Caesar back?"

_I didn't even answer his question…_

_...but he nodded anyway._

"Exactly. I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't, wouldn't you agree?"

_I didn't even know what his job was. But my mind wasn't preoccupied with that._

_The war of emotions in my mind had concluded. One emotion reigned supreme. Something that could promise to appease every single emotion at the same time._

_Every part of me screamed defiance. _

For the first time since waking up, Luca's voice was firm and unshaking. "...I want to help."

_Every part of me screamed revenge._

_I'm not sure whether or not Looker could tell based on my tone, but whatever he gathered from my response, he liked it so much that he brought back his grin._

"Excellent! I have a feeling you're an interesting one." His thoughtful stance returned, but a hint of his former smile still remained. "I'd like to get to know you. Particularly regarding your apparent ability to understand Pokemon speech."

_This did manage to catch me off guard a bit, and returned me to a slightly fearful state...but my newfound emotions were able to twist those words into something terrifying._

"Oh. Yeah, I can do that."

_I was still scared into honesty. But I was also still filled with this newfound independence._

"Who told you?" Luca asked.

_I knew who it was, but I needed to hear it. I needed to hear that name escape his lips._

_I needed a reason to defy her._

"Dear Aurea Juniper. Though she didn't seem aware that a Tepig had been stolen."

_He gave me two._

Luca's head finally rose. His glare looked firmer than Looker's. "When do we leave?"

"I can tell I'm going to like you!" Looker's grin was accompanied by a nod. "We leave as soon as you're all packed and ready. There's a lot of information I'd like to give you on the road."

"Is there a catch to all this?" Luca asked. "Am I allowed to bring Pokemon?"

"The catch is that I may be taking advantage of the crime you witnessed," Looker said bluntly. "There's some funny whispers going around in Unova about a certain organization, and going after Black gives me a solid excuse to be here."

_In exchange for helping Looker with his shady investigation, I'd be granted my opportunity at revenge at Black. To me at the time, that was a deal that had no downsides. _

_I got to leave the lab, bring my Pokemon, and get some much needed against the man who had the audacity to not only heartlessly steal a Pokemon, but use it to harm one of my own._

_And all I had to do was be a scapegoat for this guy._

_God, what was I thinking..._

"Not to worry though, I don't plan on involving you in anything dangerous," Looker continued. "But yes, please do bring what Pokemon you can."

_That was one of two fears regarding this plan quelled. If I wasn't allowed to bring Ephraim along, I would have been likely to tap out._

"You're going to have to talk to Aurea about that," Luca responded, sounding a bit cautious. "She's not gonna let me leave like this unless you make her make me leave. If it's not official, she, my father, or both will come after us."

_The other fear was Aurea herself. If she refused to let me go, yet I left anyway, then both she and my father would likely chase me down and take me away._

"I'll talk to her, see if I can't convince her. Don't worry about it," Looker said.

_That was assurance enough to me._

Luca gave a grin back to Looker. "I'll go get the Pokemon. You go talk to Aurea. Then? We're gone."


	7. Chapter 6: They Strike Back

**To avoid future confusion, I will clarify something now.**

**The two chapters of Luca in the past have not been one-off things.**

**This story takes place at two different points of time. Present Luca and Past Luca.**

**If you are having trouble distinguishing the time period the chapter is in, you may distinguish it by observing its title.**

**Chapters taking place in Luca's past, where he is 13 years old, have chapter titles consisting of only one word.**

**Chapters taking place in Luca's present, where he is 19 and a Pokemon Trainer, have chapter titles consisting of exactly 3 words.**

**This titling scheme will stay consistent throughout the whole work. **

**Enjoy.**

––––––––––

"We're sure this isn't a fake?"

"I… Spectral, is that seriously the first thing you're going to say after reading that?"

Spectral's eyes hadn't even left the paper. "All I asked is if we're sure this isn't fake. That so wrong?"

"You're not concerned?" Luca asked. "This is blackmail!"

"No shit, Sherlock, I figured that part out," Spectral sighed.

"Boys…"

"How can you be so calm about this?"

"I'm trying to find a reason to be!" Spectral said, aggressively throwing the letter down on the table. "Panicking over this stupid thing isn't going to solve the problem, and neither is wallowing for hours in your room with no support!"

"Oh what, so I'm not allowed to be emotional? Maybe you'd understand if you actually chose to show your family some emotions other than pride!"

"BOYS!"

Elliot rose off his chair and slammed both hands on the counter, instantly making the twins flinch and fall into a terrified silence.

"_Be nice_." That was all he said before sighing and sitting down again, but his firm tone was more than enough to make Luca and Spectral understand.

The twins wasted no time remorsefully apologizing to each other.

It was the morning after the delivery of the letter. Luca was up far earlier than his normal waking hour for work, rising even before the sun itself.

He didn't even make ten steps out of his own room before being assaulted by a hug from his father. The hug lasted several seconds as Elliot explained, in tears, that he couldn't get a wink of sleep with Luca on his mind.

Once the hug was over, Luca found his brother waiting for him in the kitchen. Spectral had only a single question for Luca when he walked in.

"You wanna talk about it?"

At first, Luca said no, citing the time as absurd for a discussion like that.

Spectral called bullshit, leading Luca to immediately realize why his excuse was terrible.

Spectral normally went to sleep at roughly the same time Luca woke up for work. The only surprise about Spectral's presence at this hour was the fact that he wasn't spending the morning in his room.

Even disregarding what Elliot had told Luca about his inability to sleep, Elliot's presence in the early hours was no surprise at all. Just as Elliot was always ready with breakfast in the kitchen no matter when Luca or Spectral awoke, the man would be in the kitchen before his kids at the most unorthodox hours, even if all one of the twins wanted was some water or a late night snack. It was a bit creepy at times, but they both knew he meant well.

So, Luca called his father over to the kitchen and asked if the three of them could sit down and talk about the situation as a family.

When Elliot agreed and settled in the kitchen, Luca gave him the letter, instructed him to read it, and to tell nobody outside of the family of its contents.

When Elliot was done reading, he merely sighed and passed the letter to Luca's brother.

And after Spectral read the letter, the beginnings of his fight with Luca had to be stopped by the booming voice of their father.

"You're both scared," Elliot said, sounding much calmer and compassionate. "That's fine. I'm scared too. We're all scared…. It's been several years since the last family crisis, and a lot has changed since then because of it. But still, in times like these, you can't let the emotions in your heads rule you entirely."

Elliot turned to Spectral. "Spectral, your brother's the one being suddenly directly attacked here. He needed time to cope with that. He might still need some time. That's not something you recover from easily."

Spectral sighed dejectedly. "Right..."

Elliot then turned to Luca. "Luca, you know your brother. Just because he's not showing his concern doesn't mean that he's completely lacking in empathy."

"He shows it in other ways," Luca finished. "I know, I know… Sorry again…"

"As long as we're clear," Elliot nodded. "Now… Luca, I think your brother brings up a valid concern. One that may be obvious to you, but not to us. How do we know this letter isn't fake? They didn't address anything specific."

"They were just specific enough," Luca replied. "I thought about why they didn't say the exact information they plan to use against me last night, and I think it makes sense. What happens if this letter ends up in someone else's hands?"

"They lose complete power over you," Spectral said. "Someone else gets to blackmail you too, and that becomes a mess any blackmailer wouldn't want. So by not saying exactly what the information is but still leaving just enough clues for the intended guy to understand the implications…"

Luca sighed. "You get it."

Elliot nodded. "Ok… So how do we know the letter is really from—"

"The Champion?" Spectral finished. "I hounded Jean about it yesterday before you guys walked in. The bird told me he had no doubts about the seal's authenticity. Both from just the perspective of a mail carrier...and because of the letter's source.

"According to Jean, he specifically got a request to pick up that exact letter. And where'd he go to pick it up? The Pokemon League. Who gave him the letter? That woman who made that announcement a couple days ago. Poor guy flew all the way from here to the Pokemon League and back in a single day…"

"My god," Elliot gasped. "No wonder he looked so tired."

"He's resting now in my room," Spectral said. "Poor guy deserves it, terrible as this letter is. Damn did he do his duty and do it flawlessly."

"Be careful, Jean," Luca muttered.

"Ok so back to the implications. Your file? What was the info they had again?" Spectral asked.

"Testimony from 5 years ago, research from Juniper, records from Interpol," Luca said, not even needing to re-read the letter.

"Judging from your reaction, at the very least one of those hit the mark," Elliot said. "Research from Aurea sounds right, considering the amount of time you spent with her."

"And we know some crazy shit went down five years ago," Spectral added. "Which we _still_ don't know the details—"

"All three," Luca said suddenly.

That stunned both the others into a short silence.

A silence which Spectral broke. "Ok, so, not trying to judge or anything...but how the fuck did you get involved with International Police?"

"I'd like to know as well," Elliot said.

Luca looked away as he spoke. "I'm claiming house law."

"Oh come on!" Spectral said, rising from his seat. "The very reputation of our family is on the line, and you want to claim house law on an important topic!?"

"Spectral!" Elliot rose again, this time giving Spectral a terrifying glare that made even Luca flinch a bit.

Spectral, however, cowered when his father said his name, even raising his arms in defense a bit. "Ok! Ok… He can have house law. Just...chill, Dad. Please."

Elliot took a moment to think and calm himself before sitting back down with a brief "You're right." He loosely covered the top of his face with his hand and groaned. "Luca. Will you hear me out on this?"

Luca didn't say anything, but gave a nod to his father.

"You can have house law on the matter if you want. We won't challenge that. But…if we're going to make it through this, I think that you should consider telling us, Luca. Even if it's not telling us absolutely everything, just tell us enough so that we can try to help."

"I made friends with an officer once," Luca said abruptly. "An Interpol officer. He's the only form of association I've ever had with any law enforcement."

"His name?" Spectral asked.

"I never learned it. He only ever went by a codename. Not like it matters anyway. He's not from here, he's from Kanto."

"How'd the hell you meet him then?" Spectral asked, leaning in a bit. "What was he in Unova for?"

Luca turned away again. "Five years ago..."

"Oh god damn it." Spectral stood up from his seat and made his way over towards Luca. His father looked ready to interject again, but stopped when Spectral gave his brother a pat on the shoulder.

"Look. Shit happened five years ago and you all don't like talking about it. Fine. I can understand not wanting to talk seems like a painful life experience. But."

Spectral spun Luca's chair around so that he could lock eyes with his brother.

"When's this testimony from? Five years ago. When were you at Juniper's lab? Five years ago. When did you meet this Interpol guy? Five years ago. What do you and Ephraim and Jean not like talking about and always claim house law on? Five. Years. Ago."

Spectral sighed and backed off a bit. "Fashionista, I dunno what the hell you did five years ago, and I'm not gonna be the guy to judge you for it, whatever it was. But it's clearly enough for someone to wanna blackmail you over it."

"We all realize that this blackmail could be...something else, right?" Luca asked. "Like...yeah, sure, blackmail over what happened five years ago makes sense. But… One of those things scares me a lot more than the other two."

Elliot's response was a depressed shrug. "So what are we going to do then?" he asked. "Even if we know what's being leaked, we don't know how to stop the information from being leaked other than just...compliance. And well… I know Luca doesn't want to do the tournament."

"Do we even have another option?" Spectral sighed. "We can't exactly barge into the Champion's home and threaten 'em back, and knowing you, you wouldn't want to make some kind of public confession. Both because you hate public speaking and are introverted, and because you don't want to come out with it to the public."

"I'll figure it out," Luca said, groaning and rising from his seat.

His father immediately stopped him, putting a hand on Luca's back as he started to leave the kitchen. "Luca. Don't make this decision alone."

Luca never responded, simply walking to his room with the letter in his hand.

––––––––––

Mornings at Aspertia City Grade School were often very packed and eventful for Cheren.

The droves of students piling into the school building and its numerous classrooms made things hectic enough already. The minor scramble of teachers to ensure that classrooms were perfect and ready for another day of teaching made things worse. Pokemon needed to be checked on and cared for right away in the Pokemon House, often waking all at once as the school became packed with noise.

Cheren himself would be tucked away in his office, talking to parents, to staff, into his phone, or to himself as he read over documents vital to the school's everyday functions.

All of which needed to be taken care of before the morning announcements, which Cheren was also fully required for.

It was a miniature nightmare at the start of every day for the headmaster.

Early mornings, however, were much kinder to the man and the school he took charge of.

From the moment the school doors were unlocked, virtually the entire building was his for an entire hour. He could eat, he could work, he could relax, he could even goof off if he wanted to.

Sometimes he would be joined by a teacher looking to make an early arrival to their classroom on a big day. Most of the teachers working at the school were former teachers of Cheren's, and they would get to reminisce and laugh about years past and how far Cheren had come as a person in such little time. Newer teachers who didn't know Cheren as well would simply appreciate the assistance he gave.

Other times he would wander to the Pokemon House and spend time with all the Pokemon there. Though his presence wasn't as calming as someone like Elliot's or Luca's, the Pokemon there still recognized Cheren as a caring person towards all of their well being. He couldn't understand the Pokemon, but that wouldn't stop him from attempting to hold conversations with them as best he could. The 3 Mararcich men had all imparted in him different tips for communicating beyond the language barrier; Cheren was determined to make sure their teachings did not go to waste whenever he interacted with the Pokemon.

On this particular early morning, Cheren was looking to just lounge in his office, enjoy his morning coffee, and read his weekly magazine.

Unfortunately for him, shortly after settling in to his office and starting his drink, he noticed an unusually high amount of chatter coming from the Pokemon House. Since no one else was in the school at the hour, that was an issue that fell on him to resolve.

Much to his relief, however, virtually all of the Pokemon in the Pokemon House respected Cheren and quieted down when he asked them to.

Once that was taken care of, Cheren returned to his office without any delay. He'd only lost a few minutes of time, the morning was still young and for the taking.

Then he got a phone call. One that he sighed at the sound of and answered without even checking to see the caller ID.

"Hello?"

His expression changed from frustrated to pleasantly surprised just from the sound of the voice on the other side.

"Oh. Hey. You're up early. … Yeah I'm at the school. … In my office." Cheren's face turned a bit concerned. "Are you okay? You seem breathless. … Am I free? Of course. It's a quarter past six in the morning, no one else is here. Why? Do you need me?"

A tired voice came from behind. "Yes."

Cheren gasped and spun around at the sound of the voice, reaching to his pocket for a Poke Ball.

Though when he processed who had arrived behind him, Cheren gave a sigh of relief, loosening up and hanging up the phone.

"You couldn't have said something before showing up at the door?"

"I was already on my way when the thought occurred to me to ask."

Luca looked tired, like he'd just finished a long run. He held Ephraim up against his chest with one arm, and carried his phone in the other, though he seemed to be putting it away now.

"Did you really run all the way here at six in the morning with Ephraim in your grip like that?" Cheren asked.

"I've made longer runs with this guy in my arms before," Luca said with a nod.

"It's still just as uncomfortable," Ephraim muttered.

Cheren sat behind his desk. "That look in your eye tells me this is something urgent."

Luca pulled out a folded piece of paper and put it on Cheren's desk. "It is."

Cheren picked up the paper and investigated it, not even reading its contents. "What's this?"

"Just read it," Luca said with a dejected sigh as he pulled up a chair for himself and sat down. "Please. I can't talk unless you do."

"Hm. Very well then."

Cheren unfolded the paper and began to read. It wasn't long before his expression began to change as he did. What started as a neutral face began to turn into one of shock. Despite Cheren's attempts to calm himself, that shock would only grow stronger and stronger as his eyes continued to scroll through the page. Cheren's eyes would widen frequently. He would take bigger and louder breaths in than he would exhale out.

At one point, Luca saw Cheren close his eyes and slightly lower his head with a soft sigh. The break only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to allow Cheren to mentally refresh and regain his standard, solemn, neutral expression.

This would be the expression he kept throughout the rest of the reading, whatever remained of it.

It didn't seem like there was much. Not even a minute after Cheren resumed reading, he waved the paper back and forth a bit, then turned to face Luca.

"I'm flattered that you trust me with this," he said, somehow sounding neutral yet sincere at the same time. "Truly. I can't imagine how you felt reading this for the first time. Could you even sleep? Is that why you're up at this hour?"

"I slept eerily well, actually," Luca said, forcing a chuckle. "But I slept early, too; just a couple of hours after returning from work yesterday I was asleep. Early sleep, early wake…"

"I see." Cheren offered Luca the letter back, but Luca rejected it.

"That's not the point though," Luca said. "I'm showing you this because I need help."

Cheren simply placed the letter on his desk instead. "As I said, I'm flattered that you trust me enough to show me this and ask for my help regarding this situation. But why me? What about your father and brother? What about Ephraim right next to you?"

"You seriously expect me to be able to solve a blackmail problem? What the heck am I supposed to do?" Ephraim asked.

Cheren gave Ephraim a slightly apologetic look. "Sorry if you didn't like that. I'm just trying to say that you seem more helpful than I am, considering how much you two trust each other compared to the trust level between Luca and I."

Luca arched a brow at that response. "You're getting better."

Cheren smiled briefly. "Thank you. But still, I'd like to know why—"

"You know what's being used against me here," Luca said, pointing to the letter on Cheren's desk.

"What's being used against you? I have my guess but, are we thinking of the same thing?"

"You know it," Luca said. "Why else would I come to you?"

"So we both think this is—"

Luca raised up both hands defensively. "_Don't_. Don't…" He sighed. "I don't want to be reminded of any of that…"

"Running away from what happened isn't going to resolve this issue," Cheren said firmly.

"Then what will?" Luca asked, sounding aggressive. "That's why I'm here. That's why I'm talking to you. Showing you this. As much as my father and brother want to help, neither of them know what happened five years ago. Ephraim wants to help but...he doesn't know how."

Ephraim looked away with a depressed groan.

"So you decided to come to me for help," Cheren said. "I'm still shocked that you trust me this much."

"You seem to trust me an awful lot too, in spite of what happened back then," Luca nodded. "You didn't hesitate one second in offering me this job that I never even asked for. You relied on me to give your students a strong demonstration just yesterday. You trust me. A lot. So I trust you a lot back."

"I see…." Cheren found it impossible to hide the surprise on his face after such a comment, but managed to regain his stern look after clearing his throat. "My advice. You want it."

"Yes."

Cheren spoke clearly and without hesitation. "Do exactly what the Champion wants. Beat all the gyms. Partake in the tournament. Don't hold back. When all is said and done with, you brush it off like it never happened, and return to your normal life."

Luca jumped out of his seat in a fury. "How could you tell me to—"

"HEY!"

Immediately the young trainer found himself paralyzed by Ephraim's own outburst. When he looked down at his Pokemon, the Bulbasaur simply nodded his head towards Luca's chair.

"Sit back down," Ephraim said. "I get it, I don't like what he's suggesting either. But you two just got done talking about how much you trust each other. He wouldn't tell you to do something you don't like without a good reason. Ask him why."

With a low grumble and grit teeth, Luca sat back down in his chair. "Why that?" Luca asked.

"That must have been quite a stern talking to," Cheren said, arching a brow towards Ephraim. He quickly refocused towards Luca. "I'm well aware that you don't like Pokemon battles. I talked about this with you yesterday. But running away puts your family into a terrible situation, and coming clean to the world preemptively makes the situation slightly better for your family, but infinitely worse for you."

"And what if what I do is worthless?" Luca asked. "What if the Champion just tells me that what I did wasn't good enough for them, even if it _was_ my best?"

"Can I be blunt, Luca?" Cheren asked.

Luca nodded.

"I think that if you bring your absolute, genuine best to that tournament, that you stand a very real chance at winning it."

There was a brief pause. Afterwards, Luca laughed. "You're kidding. I'm not _that_ good. Don't take yesterday as an indication or anything. I know you were holding back some."

"If you collected the other seven of Unova's badges as quickly as possible, then spent the weeks until the tournament doing nothing but training your Pokemon… If those six Pokemon are like Alan? Where you've used them in the past and trained them to a high level already? I daresay you stand a chance at the Hall of Fame, Luca."

The look of defeat on Luca's face was all Cheren needed to see.

"And that's the last thing you want," Cheren continued. "You don't want to win the tournament either. But if you take a set of Pokemon that strong into it, you risk doing just that. So." Cheren leaned back in his chair a bit, opening an arm and spreading it out towards the wall. "The Pokemon House is yours."

Luca leaned forward a bit. "Excuse me?"

"I'm giving you full permission to use any of the Pokemon in the Pokemon house for this. Take them, train them, keep them if you want."

Cheren seemed confident, yet Luca seemed completely bewildered. "Why would I do that?"

"So you can restrict yourself."

Luca reared back in shock. "You want to put a handicap on me when the Champion wants me to give my best performance?"

"Your best effort doesn't require your best team," Cheren said, shaking his head. "Nor does your best performance. It's more about how you battle, not as much about what you battle with. You should know this."

"You're still asking me to limit myself," Luca said firmly. "I don't want to do that."

"Do you want to win that tournament?" Cheren asked.

"Don't go in circles, Luca," Ephraim added.

"No," Luca sighed.

"There. We've devised a plan for you." Cheren eased back into his seat. "Do exactly as the Champion asks, but use a new team of weaker Pokemon taken from the Pokemon House. Your fundamentals will carry you and showcase your talent still, but the weaker team will prevent you from overachieving. Get the badges. Lose the tournament. Fulfil the conditions of the blackmail satisfactorily. Return here like nothing even happened. Your father can cover for your work here while you're gone, and I'll give you your position back when you do return. Yes, you have to deal with the Pokemon battling on the way, but at the end of it all, you win."

It took a while for Luca to acknowledge it at all. At first he sat there in silence, not looking at anyone. Then he moved a bit, looking as though he was mulling it over in his head. He'd occasionally shoot a brief look at Ephraim or Cheren, but never say anything to either of them.

Eventually though, he sighed again and looked up. "Okay. I think I can live with that."

"Good." Cheren smiled. "I'm glad everything worked—"

"But there's one part of that plan I just can't agree to."

Ephraim groaned, bringing a vine to his face. "Come ON man! You can NOT be this—"

"I don't want to use your Pokemon," Luca said, sounding even more stern than Cheren and Ephraim combined.

"Relax. I'm okay with it. It's not even..." Cheren stopped himself when he saw Luca's piercing gaze staring straight at him.

Something clicked in Cheren's head after seeing that. "Oh." He nodded. "Okay. Don't use those Pokemon—"

"—But I'd like to request to take Lira with me anyway."

Cheren arched a brow. "Oh? That's the Growlithe pup, right? She seems a bit young…"

"Under normal circumstances I'd agree," Luca nodded. "Too young for fighting. But...I don't know how much longer her mother has, Cheren. She's getting worse. If I leave for a few months and her mother passes during that time..."

"Ahh. You needn't say more." Cheren thought briefly. "Explain the situation to the mother. If she approves of it, then you may keep her during your travels and beyond."

For the first time since waking up, Luca looked hopeful. "You're serious?"

"Absolutely," Cheren said. He lightly chuckled. "Of what I've heard, she treats you like a parent already."

Luca got out of his seat again, this time with a large smile. "Thank you." He picked up Ephraim and began walking towards the door. "I'll go ask her right n—"

"Wait just a minute."

Luca heard Cheren rising out of his seat. It wasn't long before he was standing next to Luca.

"Don't forget this," Cheren said, offering Luca the letter. "This is rather important, yeah?"

Luca chuckled and reached for it. "Yeah, it is."

Cheren pulled the letter back a bit. "Do this now, Luca."

"Hm?"

"The gyms. The team assembly. The training. There's only three months until this tournament. Gyms are going to explode with challengers. I've already gotten three requests. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to do everything." Cheren offered the letter again. This time he let Luca take it. "No dawdling around in cities or routes. Assemble this new team of yours as fast as possible. Train them as best you can. I don't expect to see you here tomorrow."

Luca pocketed the letter. He couldn't help but look a little upset over the situation, but managed to keep his smile up. "If everything goes well? You won't."

––––––––––

The border of Aspertia City was never something that people stopped at for any reason.

In Nuvema Town, the home of Professor Juniper's lab, new trainers go directly to Route 1 after obtaining their starter Pokemon. However, oftentimes, several trainers will wait right at the border of Nuvema Town in hopes that they can take their first steps onto Route 1 in the company of another new trainer, so that they might share the first steps of their journeys together. Whether it was with close friends or a group of strangers, the tradition had become so deeply ingrained with Nuvema Town that Professor Juniper herself marked the line where Nuvema Town ended and Route 1 began.

Professor Juniper still offered her starter Pokemon all across the region. She had assistants in each of the major areas of the region that she would send Pokemon to in the event that a starting trainer didn't wish to travel all the way to Nuvema just to start their journey, and several of those areas had their own fun traditions. For the southwest area of Unova, where Luca lived, trainers could pick up their Pokemon at the Aspertia City Lookout, just north of the school. Trainers there would often let their starters admire the view the moment they emerged from their Poke Balls. But such traditions were never at the border.

Yet there Luca was. One step away from Route 19. And he wasn't there alone.

Nestled safely and comfortably in his arms was Lira, the young Growlithe, looking and acting calm, yet smiling with anticipation.

When Luca had finished talking with Cheren, he immediately made his way to the Pokemon House to ask Lira's mother about bringing the pup with him. Lira herself was up and hyper in the early morning, especially with Luca around, but the mother was completely exhausted and in a state where she could barely speak for several hours. Luca was well in the middle of working and talking to excited students when the two could finally discuss the idea properly.

Peter had to keep Lira's attention long enough for Luca to explain what he could about the situation to her mother. Luca kept the details sparse, simply discussing that he would be leaving for a few months without returning, and that he feared the worst could happen while he was gone, leaving Lira practically alone. When he mentioned that he wanted to take Lira with him to care for her during his departure, the mother started to silently cry. It was impossible to tell if they were tears of joy or fear until she gave her response.

A bittersweet but still resounding "Yes. She's yours."

Luca took Lira home with him that afternoon after the pup and her mother said their goodbyes. She sounded very excited by the prospect of going on an "adventure" with Luca.

Lira wasn't the only Pokemon with Luca. Sitting comfortably on Luca's shoulder was Ephraim.

When Luca came home after work, he wasted no time discussing Cheren's plan with his brother and father, asking them for their approval and if they had any suggestions.

Spectral completely agreed with Cheren's plan, saying he would have suggested something extremely similar if he'd been given the chance. He tried to convince Luca to leave the house that very afternoon, but couldn't win that argument against the hyperactive pup wanting to spend more time with her "uncle."

Elliot meanwhile seemed a lot more cautious over the ideas presented. Though he trusted Cheren both as a person and as a counselor, something just didn't sit right with him about someone outside the household deciding what to do over what felt like a family affair. But if Luca trusted Cheren with advice on this matter, then Elliot would too.

Of course, Luca still had to explain everything to all his previous Pokemon, most importantly about how they couldn't join him. Elliot had already explained to all of them about the blackmail and terms involved in it, and when Luca went to check in on them, several immediately volunteered to be a part of his team to tackle the Champion's challenge. The enthusiasm made it a lot harder for Luca to explain to everyone that he wouldn't be relying on any of them. Several were upset to hear that he would be starting the journey mostly alone, but nobody protested the choice.

None except Ephraim. As the day drew to a close and the trainer prepared to get an early night's rest, Luca found Ephraim on his bed, sitting there, waiting for him. He wasted no time explaining to Luca what he wanted.

"I'm going with you. Period."

Ephraim explained that he wasn't interested in battling, and that Luca didn't have to consider him as a part of his team. But he refused to let Luca go out and handle the situation without him. He felt like he was a part of it, and he wanted to be involved somehow, even if just trying to support from a sideline position.

Luca wasn't convinced at first, citing that he needed to treat his Pokemon fairly, and that favoritism couldn't influence him into bringing Ephraim. But the Bulbasaur finally swayed Luca with an emotional argument about how he deserved to be on the journey just as much as Luca himself.

Luca couldn't say no after that.

He took a deep breath, tightening his grip. Luca wasn't sure why he had this strong apprehension to leaving, but he knew that it had to be done. Yet he just couldn't take that step…

He felt a comforting couple of pat on his back at his hesitation. When Luca looked to his left, he saw Alan giving him a meek smile as he gave another pat.

Everyone had agreed that Luca shouldn't use any of his stronger Pokemon from his old adventures. Even the Pokemon themselves had agreed to that. When Luca got up that morning, he bid them all one final farewell, thanking all of them for understanding and promising his safe return with new friends. It was a bittersweet goodbye, but still a satisfactory one for all.

Or so he thought.

Luca left his house as he expected to that morning. Just before stepping out the front door in his usual terrible fashion sense, he gave a long farewell hug to his father, then to his brother. Ephraim and Lira were already both with him, saying their goodbyes to the family as well. And once Luca was out the door, that was it. The three of them had started on the road to complete the Champion's demands.

As they were passing the school, Luca was explaining to Ephraim and Lira his plans for the first stop on their trip, but suddenly heard his name being called from behind. At first he assumed it to be someone from the school trying to pull him in to work, completely unaware that he would be taking a hiatus from work for multiple months. But when Luca's name was called again, he noticed just how unusually desperate it sounded.

Ephraim's bewildered reaction to turning around is what finally convinced Luca to do the same.

When he did, he was greeted by the sight of Alan trying his very best to run towards Luca without falling flat onto his face at every step. A task he'd succeeded at, as Luca not only stopped to allow Alan to reach him, but even closed some of the distance between them to ensure the Ampharos would be okay.

Once Alan had regained his breath enough, he slammed his Poke Ball into Luca's hand. "C'mon, man. Just in case."

If that had happened back at home, Luca would have said no. Even there, in the middle of Aspertia City, Luca had half a mind to tell Alan to go home while he still could. But then Alan talked about how he grabbed his Poke Ball and left the house without help or contact with anyone else. How he refused to stop running, despite fatigue and lack of balance and poor speed, all the way to Luca, no matter how far he'd already gone. How he felt like he was already an important part of the journey since he'd gotten Luca his first badge and desired to keep going, even if he wouldn't see as much battle time as the others.

Luca wasn't sure exactly what part of Alan's argument resonated with him the most, but after hearing the Amphaos make his case, every part of him was compelled to let him stay. He pocketed the Poke Ball and invited Alan to walk alongside him, filling Alan in on their current plans.

Luca took a look behind him at Aspertia City. His house was too far away to see, but he couldn't stop himself from trying to find it anyway. "Last chance for you guys to back out," he said.

Lira nestled herself further in Luca's arms silently.

Ephraim gave Luca a couple pats on the shoulder he was sitting on.

Alan turned Luca's head back away from Aspertia.

"I take it that's a resounding 'no,'" Luca chuckled as took the first step onto Route 19.


End file.
